In our experiments testing the effect of various vasodilators and vasoconstrictors on the placenta from humans the following results were obtained: 1) Isoproterenol, phenoxybenzamine, ACh, pilocarpine, atropine, papaverine, sodium nitrite, ergotamine, barium chloride, oxytocin, quinine, caffeine, nicotine and ephedrine all had mild vasoconstricting action, whereas adrenaline, noradrenaline, 5-HT and histamine had considerably stronger action. 2) Blood vessels appeared to be extremely sensitive to changes in the levels of O
2, CO
2 and nitrogen of perfusion fluid. 3) During states of hypercapnia, hypoxia and anoxia, a vasodilatation was observed. Conversely, a vasoconstricting effect was observed in the presence of hyperoxia.
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