Fig. 11.

Summary of vascular effects of noise exposure in healthy mice. Noise increases serum levels of the catecholamine noradrenaline (=norepinephrine) and the vasoconstrictor angiotensin-II determined by ELISA (A) as well as vascular oxidative stress in the aortic wall of mice measured by dihydroethidium (DHE) staining (B). Consequently, noise increases systolic blood pressure determined by the tail cuff method and impairs endothelial function assessed by the isometric tension method using acetylcholine-dependent vasodilation (C). Bioavailability of the important vasodilator nitric oxide (^•NO) was decreased in the aorta of noise-exposed mice (measured by electron spin resonance spectroscopy), whereas sensitivity to vasoconstrictors such as noradrenaline was increased (determined by isometric tension method) (D). Data are mean ± SEM, at least n = 6 mice/group. *, p < 0.05 versus unexposed CTR. WT, wildtype; CTR, control. Adopted from Ref. [14] with permission.