Detrimental Effects of Nearby Construction Activity on Endothelial and Vascular Smooth Muscle Function in Cerebral Arteries of Sprague‐Dawley (S‐D) Rats

Abstract

The present study assessed the effect of nearby construction activity on endothelium‐dependent vasodilation to acetylcholine (ACh), a crucial diagnostic test, in middle cerebral arteries (MCA) of male Sprague‐Dawley (S‐D) rats. Construction activity began on October 2, 2017 and consisted of installing a utility tunnel for a new heating system near the MCW basic science building, followed by additional construction in front of the adjacent medical education building. The project involved extensive digging and tunneling, and the use of heavy equipment (steam shovels, bulldozers, dump trucks, front end loaders, etc.). Various construction activities continued until the end of May 2018. Most of the construction activity generated high levels of vibration and noise in the patio area just outside the MCW Biomedical Resource Center, which houses numerous rodents and other species used in research projects at the institution. Vibrations were monitored using a system (RPi) designed in our laboratory and consisting of a small computing unit attached to a rolling sensor (low sensitivity) and a Piezo Film Sensor (high sensitivity). The sensor was placed in an empty rat cage and vibrations were quantified as Hz. During the construction period, normal endothelium‐dependent vasodilation in response to ACh was abolished or dramatically reduced in isolated MCA of S‐D rats fed a normal salt diet. MCA from rats studied after completion of construction but housed in the vivarium during construction showed a partial recovery of ACh‐induced dilation, but MCA responses to ACh and vascular NO sensitivity, assessed via vasodilator responses to the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), in those animals were significantly reduced compared to rats obtained, housed, and studied after completion of the construction project. In separate experiments, activity of Ca2+‐activated maxi K+ channels was lost in isolated cerebral artery smooth muscle cells from S‐D rats housed and studied during the construction period. During the construction period, the RPi system recorded high levels of vibration that corresponded to construction activity outside the building. Following cessation of construction, baseline levels of vibration returned and endothelium‐dependent vasodilation to ACh and vessel NO sensitivity recovered to normal levels. The results of this study show that the noise and vibration associated with nearby construction can have highly deleterious effects upon crucial physiological phenotypes.Support or Funding InformationNIH #R01‐HL128242This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.