THE ACTIVE RESPONSES OF PULMONARY VEINS IN INTACT DOGS TO PROSTAGLANDINS F₂ ALPHA AND E₁

¹ Cardiopulmonary Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana

The direct response of the pulmonary veins to prostaglandins (PGF₂) and E₁ (PGE₁) in intact dogs was studied by a technique of pump perfusion of a hemodynamically separated lobar artery at a constant rate of flow. During administration of these agents, their direct effects were studied in the vessels of the pump-perfused lobe, while the modulated effects were studied in the vessels of the normally perfused lobes. In the pump-perfused lobe, PGF₂ abruptly increased lobar arterial pressure and more slowly increased lobar venous pressure. These data indicate that PGF₂ actively constricts the lobar vein and vessels upstream to the venous segment, presumably the lobar arteries. The data additionally suggest that the progressively increasing venous constriction may modify the direct constrictor effect on the upstream vessels. Since flow through the normally perfused vessels was not significantly (P > .5) altered, the increase in pressure in the main pulmonary artery indicates that vessels in these lobes also constricted. PGE₁ caused active dilation of the lobar veins and upstream vessels. The response was slower than the response to PGF₂ but was progressive during a 10-min infusion. Since both flow and pressure in the normally perfused lobes simultaneously decreased during PGE₁ infusion, the direct effect of this agent on normally perfused lobes was obscured.

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