TABLE 2.

Characteristics of Ca²⁺ spark recorded in untreated (Control) and aldosterone-treated (ALDO) mesenteric artery smooth muscle cells in the absence and presence of Nifedipine (1 μM).

			+ Nifedipine
	Control	ALDO	Control	ALDO
Cells (n)	35	29	18	11
Basal fluorescence (F0)	5.81 ± 0.52	5.90 ± 0.53	3.58 ± 0.25##	5.78 ± 0.56
Frequency (events/s)	0.11 ± 0.01	0.17 ± 0.01**	0.05 ± 0.01**,###	0.10 ± 0.02#
Amplitude (F/F0)	1.89 ± 0.05	1.77 ± 0.03	2.10 ± 0.09	1.91 ± 0.07
FWHM (μm)	1.88 ± 0.07	1.89 ± 0.06	2.05 ± 0.15	1.87 ± 0.12
FDHM (ms)	45.97 ± 2.36	50.25 ± 2.09	42.62 ± 4.88#	37.55 ± 6.10*,###
Rising time (ms)	21.80 ± 1.40	23.67 ± 1.14	18.37 ± 1.73	19.12 ± 2.48
Decay time (ms)	84.82 ± 16.83	79.91 ± 9.43	70.63 ± 23.22	35.29 ± 4.53

Values are mean ± SEM of indicated recorded cells (n) for each experimental condition. Confocal images of Ca²⁺ sparks were recorded with a laser scanning confocal microscope in line scan mode (five images per cell of 1000 lines each, at speed of 1.92 ms/line). Basal fluorescence intensity (F₀) was calculated inside the cell as the average fluorescence intensity of those pixels without sparks. Ca²⁺ spark data were obtained from nCTL = 191 events, nCTL + Nif = 35 events, nALDO = 315 events, and nALDO + Nif = 50 events.*P ≤ 0.05, and **P ≤ 0.01 vs. control condition. ^#P ≤ 0.05, ^##P ≤ 0.01, and ^###P ≤ 0.001 vs. ALDO-treated cells. FDHM, full duration at half maximum, FWHM, full width at half maximum.