Fig. 1.

Afobazole modulates rat mesenteric lymphatic contractions. A: representative trace of mesenteric lymphatic pumping in the presence of increasing concentrations of the σ₁-receptor agonist afobazole (50–150 µM). B–G: summarized data (means ± SE) from experiments with 19 cannulated lymphatic vessels, each from a different rat. Data represent average values of each parameter obtained during the last 2 min of the baseline period and a 2-min period during each afobazole concentration starting 4 min after administration of afobazole. B and C: 50–150 µM afobazole caused no significant trend in contraction frequency (CF; P = 0.0502) or end-diastolic diameter (EDD) normalized to maximal passive diameter (MaxD; P = 0.5815) as determined by repeated-measures ANOVA. D: 50–150 µM afobazole significantly increased EDD/MaxD. E and F: 50–150 µM afobazole significantly decreased amplitude of contraction (AMP) normalized to MaxD (AMP/MaxD) and ejection fraction (EF). G: 100 or 150 µM afobazole significantly decreased fractional pump flow (FPF) compared with baseline. Data were analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA with the Geisser-Greenhouse correction; when this test identified a significant trend, multiple comparisons were performed using Dunnett’s test with baseline as the control.