Choroidal Blood Flow Regulation During Isometric Exercise: Effects of Ca2+-Channel Blockade

Autoregulation is the ability of a vascular bed to maintain blood flow despite changes in perfusion pressure. For a long time it had been assumed that the choroid is a strictly passive vascular bed, which shows no autoregulation. However, recently several groups have identified some autoregulatory capacity of the human choroid. In the brain and the retina the mechanism behind autoregulation is most likely linked to changes in transmural pressure. In this model arterioles change their vascular tone depending on the pressure inside the vessel and outside the vessel. In the choroid, several observations argue against a direct involvement of arterioles. In a previous project we were able to identify that the nitric oxide (NO) - system as well as the endothelin system are involved in choroidal blood flow regulation during isometric exercise.

In the present study autoregulation of the choroid during isometric exercise will be investigated and the pressure/flow relationships will be observed in the absence or presence of a calcium antagonist - nifedipine.