Aortic vascular reactivity assessment

Vascular function was measured in isolated segments (3 mm in length) of thoracic aorta as previously described (27) at 18 weeks following TAC in all study groups. Vascular rings were equilibrated for 60 min and then pre-contracted with phenylephrine (1 μM). The vascular rings were then challenged with increasing concentrations of acetylcholine (10⁻⁹ to 10⁻⁵⁾ and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) at concentrations from 10^−10.5 to 10^−6.5. Data are reported as percent of relaxation from maximum contraction to phenylephrine.