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The Influence of Pentoxifylline and Torbafylline on Muscle Blood Flow in Animals With Peripheral Arterial Insufficiency
Author(s) -
Dinn Richard F.,
Yang H. T.,
Terjung Ronald L.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
the journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.92
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1552-4604
pISSN - 0091-2700
DOI - 10.1002/j.1552-4604.1990.tb03630.x
Subject(s) - pentoxifylline , peripheral , medicine , blood flow , arterial disease , cardiology , pharmacology , vascular disease
The potential of pentoxifylline to enhance blood flow to relatively ischemic muscle during running was evaluated in rats with peripheral arterial insufficiency. Femoral artery stenosis, sufficient to limit exercise hyperemia but not affect resting blood flow, was surgically induced in adult male rats (∼350 g). Day three after stenosis, rats were assigned to either a control (N = 14) or treatment (N = 14) group and exercised 5 days a week for 3 weeks. Exercise tolerance of rats fed pentoxifylline (34 ± 1.3 mg/kg/day) or an analog (torbafylline; 34 ± 2.3 mg/kg/day) increased more ( P < .001) than control rats in the third week of treatment. This was evidenced by a higher treadmill speed and longer duration of running. Blood flows determined with 85 Sr and 141 Ce labeled 15μ spheres at low (20 m/min) and high (30–35 m/min) treadmill speeds were similar for each group and ∼50% of that found in normal nonstenosed rats. Blood flows to the entire hindlimb, to the proximal and distal hindlimb segments, and to individual muscle fiber sections were not different between control and pentoxifylline groups. Thus, the increase in exercise tolerance could not be attributed to an increase in muscle blood flow. Rather, an enhanced oxygen extraction by the working limb muscles should lead to the increased VO 2 , required by the faster running speed in the pentoxifylline rats. This suggests that pentoxifylline may act to improve microvascular flow heterogeneity in working muscle. Our findings support clinical evidence that pentoxifylline is effective in managing patients with peripheral arterial insufficiency.