Faculty Collaboration Database

Anesthesia alters NO-mediated functional hyperemia. Brain Res 2001 Jul 13;907(1-2):20-6

Date

06/30/2001

Pubmed ID

11430881

DOI

10.1016/s0006-8993(01)02298-3

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0035854569 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   12 Citations

Abstract

Many properties of nitric oxide, NO, (localization, diffusiveness, half-life, vasodilatory affects) have supported its potential role in mediating the link between local cerebral activity and blood flow. However, evidence that both supports and refutes a role for NO in functional hyperemia have been presented. The present study employed multiple nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, two anesthetic regimes and laser-Doppler flowmetry to test the hypothesis that NO is critically involved in mediating the functional hyperemic response within rodent whisker-barrel cortex (WBC). In urethane anesthetized animals, functional hyperemic responses were obtained both before and after 1 mg/kg atropine infusion, 30 mg/kg i.v. L-NAME (N-Nitro-L-arginine methylester) infusion, 30 mg/kg L-NA (N-Nitro-L-arginine) infusion or 25 mg/kg 7-NI (7-nitroindazole). L-NAME was also tested in a group of animals pretreated with halothane before urethane anesthesia. Neither the magnitude of the blood flow response nor its time course was altered by NO blockade or atropine administration when compared to pre-infusion controls in urethane anesthetized rats. In contrast, animals that were pretreated with halothane exhibited a 33% inhibition of functional hyperemia after L-NAME administration. Taken together, these data do not support a primary role for NO in rat WBC functional hyperemia and suggest that previous reports of inhibition may have been secondary to the anesthesia employed.

Author List

Gerrits RJ, Stein EA, Greene AS

Author

Ron Gerrits BS,PhD Faculty in the Biomedical Engineering department at Milwaukee School of Engineering

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Anesthesia, General
Anesthetics, Inhalation
Anesthetics, Intravenous
Animals
Atropine
Cerebrovascular Circulation
Enzyme Inhibitors
Halothane
Hyperemia
Indazoles
Male
Muscarinic Antagonists
NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Nitric Oxide
Nitric Oxide Synthase
Nitroarginine
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Receptors, Muscarinic
Somatosensory Cortex
Touch
Urethane
Vasodilation
Vibrissae