Pulmonary artery

The pulmonary artery is a large elastic blood vessel that emerges from the right ventricle of the heart and carries deoxygenated blood into the lungs for oxygenation. It begins as the main pulmonary trunk, which bifurcates into right and left pulmonary arteries delivering blood separately to each lung. Unlike most arteries, the pulmonary arteries carry oxygen-poor blood. They play a crucial role in cardiopulmonary physiology, and pathological conditions such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, embolism, or congenital malformations (e.g., patent ductus arteriosus) can severely compromise their function[1][3][7][10]. The pulmonary artery is not a molecular or receptor target, but does express various vasoactive receptors (e.g., endothelin, adrenergic, and vasopressin receptors) in its smooth muscle and endothelium that are the actual pharmacological targets of certain drugs[2][4][8].

Other names

Main pulmonary arteryPulmonary trunk (proximal part)Right pulmonary arteryLeft pulmonary artery

Vasoactive drugs may affect pulmonary artery tone by acting on receptors expressed on its smooth muscle cells, but the artery itself is not a molecule/receptor target