Abstract
Introduction: It is well established that endothelial cells modulate vascular reactivity through the release of mediators such as prostacyclin (Moncada et al., 1976), nitric oxide (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980) and endothelin (Yanagisawa et al., 1988). Catecholamines modulate vascular tone through actions on ±- and ²-adrenergics (Ahlquist, 1948); meanwhile, the production and release of c…