Figure 3.

Illustration of morphological adaptations of small coronary arteries of rats to RAEX. Top panel: sedentary and exercised vessel in control condition at two intraluminal pressure values: upper half at 30 mmHg and lower half at 120 mmHg. RAEX elicits growth of vessels and thickening of vascular wall, resulting in reduced wall stress and increased elasticity of vessels. Middle panel illustrates the effect of NO, whereas the lower panel illustrates the effect of PG²⁷ (with permission of Karger). NO, nitric oxide; PG, prostaglandin.