Different sensitivities of arteries and veins to vasoactive drugs in a hagfish, Eptatretus cirrhatus

We used myography on five different arteries and three veins of the hagfish, Eptatretus cirrhatus, to test the response of vessels to vasoactive drugs. Concentration–response curves were generated for carbachol, endothelin-1, arginine vasotocin and the adrenergic agonists, phenylephrine and isoprenaline. pEC50 values indicated that veins were more sensitive to endothelin-1 than were arteries, but the arteries were more sensitive to the cholinergic agonist, carbachol. Segmental arteries did not react to arginine vasotocin, but all other vessels did, and on a molar basis it was the most potent agonist tested. That ventral and dorsal aortas were more sensitive to arginine vasotocin than smaller vessels might indicate that this neurohypophysial peptide has the potential to exert a profound influence on branchial vascular resistance and cardiac output in hagfishes. The results also demonstrate the potential for a variety of endogenous peptides to contribute to central venous tone.