Figure 2.

Vasoreactivity after leptin incubation ex-vivo. Carotid rings were preincubated with leptin for 24 hours, and cumulative concentration response curves were calculated for the contractile reaction toward phenylephrine. (A) Note the delay in the phenylephrine-induced contractile response after 24-hour leptin incubation. (B) -NAME (N-(omega)-nitro--arginine methylester) treatment of endothelium-removed carotid artery rings completely abrogated the effects of leptin incubation, pointing toward an inducible nitric oxide synthase-mediated mechanism.