Universal scaling properties of type-I intermittent chaos in isolated resistance arteries are unaffected by endogenous nitric oxide synthesis

Abstract

Spontaneous fluctuations in flow in isolated rabbit ear resistance arteries may exhibit almost-periodic behavior interrupted by chaotic bursts that can be classified as type-I Pomeau-Manneville intermittency. This conclusion was supported by the construction of parabolic return maps and identification of the characteristic probability distributions for the number of oscillations per laminar segment (n) associated with the type-I scenario. Pharmacological inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by the vascular endothelium modulated the dynamics of the reinjection mechanism, and thus the generic shape of the probability distribution for n. Nevertheless, average laminar length was related to a derived bifurcation parameter epsilon according to power-law scaling of the form <n> approximately epsilon(beta), where the estimated critical exponent beta was close to the theoretical value of -0.5 both in the presence and absence of NO synthesis.