Brief exposure to ethanol augments vascular contractility in human chorionic plate arteries

1. Heavy alcohol consumption has been known as a risk factor for hypertension, although the mechanism by which alcohol intake causes hypertension remains elusive. 2. We tested the hypothesis that brief exposure to ethanol augments vascular contractility through the stress response in human chorionic plate arteries. 3. Human chorionic plate arteries were mounted in organ baths and exposed to 5% ethanol for 15, 30 or 45 min. 4. Brief exposure for 45 min, but not 15 min, not only augmented contractility to KCl and 5-hydroxytryptamine 5 h after the end of exposure, but also increased the expression of heat shock protein (HSP) 70 in the tissues. 5. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed gradual increases of hsp70 mRNA expression, but not heat shock cognate 70 (hsc70), hsp90α or glucose regulatory protein 78 (grp78) mRNA expression, in an exposure time-dependent manner 3 h after the end of exposure. 6. These results indicate that ethanol augments vascular contractility through the stress response.