Fig. 3.
Influence of the pre-constricting agent (a), smoking habits (b), sex (c) and age (d) of the patients on the relaxant effect of anandamide in the endothelium-intact human pulmonary artery. The results are expressed as the percentage relaxation of the isometric contraction induced by serotonin (5-HT) (a) or U-46619 (a–d). Results are given as the mean ± SEM of the number of tissues (patients), namely a n=5 5-HT-pre-constricted and n=21 U-46619-pre-constricted, b 17 smokers and 4 non-smokers, c 6 women and 15 men and d 6 patients <60 years (54.4 ± 1.2) and 15 patients >60 years (67.1 ± 0.7; P < 0.001). Curves did not differ with respect to the R max (vasorelaxant effect of anandamide 100 μM) and the pEC50 (range of 4.8–5.1). The SEM is smaller than or equal to the size of symbols in few cases