Abstract
The influence of stimulation of the cervical sympathetic chain on the response of cerebral blood flow to hypertension induced by the intravenous infusion of angiotensin was studied in anaesthetised baboons. Cerebral blood flow was measured by the intracarotid133Xenon injection technique. Possible lesions of the blood-brain barrier were studied by injecting Evans blue towards the end of the experiment and ischaemic brain damage was assessed following perfusion fixation.
In a control group of five baboons blood flow increased by 53±9% (mean ±S.E.) from the base line values in the arterial pressure range 130–159 mm Hg.
In four baboons subjected to unilateral sympathetic stimulation flow increased by 16±4% in the same pressure range.
In three babbons subjected to bilateral sympathetic stimulation there were not significant increases in flow until the arterial pressure had increased above 159 mm Hg.
Disruption of the blood-brain barrier in the parietooccipital regions was only seen in the control animals but not in the stimulated baboons. Ischaemic brain damage was not observed with the exception of one small lesion in a single stimulated baboon.
These findings provide strong support for the observations of Bill and Linder (1976) that activation of the cervical sympathetic can modify the level at which breakthrough of cerebral blood flow occurs in association with systemic hypertension.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnoli, A., Battistini, N., Bozzao, L., Fieschi, C.: Drug action on regional cerebral blood flow in cases of acute cerebrovascular involvement. Acta Neurol. Scand.41 (Suppl. 14), 142–144 (1965)
Alm A.: Effect of stimulation of the cervical sympathetic chain on regional cerebral blood flow in monkeys. A study with radioactively labelled microsphere. Acta Physiol. Scand.93, 483–489 (1975)
Bill, A., Linder, J.: Sympathetic control of cerebral blood flow in acute arterial hypertension. Acta Physiol. Scand.96, 114–121 (1976)
Bevan, A. T., Honour, A. J., Scott, F. H.: Direct arterial pressure recording in unrestricted man. Clin. Sci.36, 329–344 (1969)
Brierley, J. B., Brown, A. W., Excell, B. J., Meldrum, B. S.: Brain damage in the rhesus monkey resulting from profound arterial hypotension. I. Its nature, distribution and general physiological correlates. Brain Res.13, 68–100 (1969)
Brierley, J. B., Brown, A. W., Meldrum, B. S.: The nature and time course of the neuronal alterations resulting from oligaemia and hypoglycaemia in the brain of Macaca mulatta. Brain Res.25, 483–499 (1971)
Brierley, J. B., Prior, P. F., Calverley, J., Brown, A. W.: Cyanide intoxication in Macaca mulatta — physiological and neuropathological aspects. J. Neurol. Sci.31, 133–157 (1977)
Byrom, F. B.: Pathogenesis of hypertensive encephalopathy and its relation to the malignant phase of hypertension: Experimental evidence in the hypertensive rat. Lancet2, 201–211 (1954)
Carter, L. P., Atkinson, J. R.: Cortical blood flow in controlled hypotension as measured by thermal diffusion. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat.36, 906–913 (1973)
Dinsdale, H. B., Robertson, D. M., Haas, R. A.: Cerebral blood flow in acute hypertension. Arch. Neurol.31, 80–87 (1974)
Eckenhoff, J. E., Enderby, G. E. H., Larson, A., Davies, R., Judevine, D. E.: Human cerebral circulation during deliberate hypotension and head-up tilt. J. Appl. Physiol.18, 1130–1138 (1963)
Edvinsson, L.: Neurogenic mechanisms in the cerebrovascular bed. Acta Physiol. Scand. (Suppl. 427), 1–35 (1975)
Edvinsson, L., MacKenzie, E. T.: Amine mechanisms in the cerebral circulation. Pharmacol. Rev.28, 275–348 (1976)
Edvinsson, L., Owman, Ch., Siesjö, B. K.: Physiological role of cerebrovascular sympathetic nerves in the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. Brain Res.117, 519–523 (1976)
Eklöf, B., Ingvar, D. H., Kågström, E., Olin, T.: Persistence of cerebral blood flow autoregulation following chronic bilateral cervical sympathectomy in the monkey. Acta Physiol. Scand.82, 172–176 (1971)
Farrar, J. K., Jones, J. V., Graham, D. I., Strandgaard, S., MacKenzie, E. T.: Evidence against cerebral vasospasm during acutely induced hypertension. Brain Res.104, 176–180 (1976)
Fitch, W., MacKenzie, E. T., Harper, A. M.: Effects of decreasing arterial blood pressure on cerebral blood flow in the baboon: Influence of the sympathetic nervous system. Circ. Res.37, 550–557 (1975a)
Fitch, W., Ferguson, G. G., Sengupta, D., Garibi, J.: Autoregulation of cerebral blood flow during controlled hypotension. In: Cerebral circulation and metabolism (T. W. Langfitt, L. C. McHenry, Jr., M. Reivich, and H. Wollman, Eds.), pp. 18–20. New York: Springer 1975b
Hansson, H. A., Johansson, B., Blomstrand, C.: Ultrastructural studies on cerebrovascular permeability in acute hypertension. Acta Neuropathol. (Berl.)32, 187–198 (1975)
Harper, A. M.: Autoregulation of cerebral blood flow: influence of the arterial blood pressure on the blood flow through the cerebral cortex. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat.29, 398–403 (1966)
Harper, A. M., Deshmukh, V. D., Rowan, J. O., Jennett, W. B.: Influence of sympathetic nervous activity on cerebral blood flow. Arch Neurol.27, 1–6 (1972)
Høedt-Rasmussen, K., Sveinsdottir, F., Lassen, N. A.: Regional cerebral blood flow in man determined by the intra-arterial injection of radioactive inert gas. Circ. Res.18, 237–247 (1966)
Hoyer, S., Hamer, J., Alberti, E., Stoeckel, H., Weinhardt, F.: The effect of stepwise arterial hypotension on blood flow and oxidative metabolism of the brain. Pflügers Arch.351, 161–172 (1974)
James, I. M., Millar, R. A., Purves, M. J.: Observations on the extrinsic neural control of cerebral blood flow in the baboon. Circ. Res.25, 77–93 (1969)
Johansson, B.: Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Acute Arterial Hypertension. Doctoral Thesis, University of Gothenberg (1974)
Jones, J. V., Fitch, W., MacKenzie, E. T., Strandgaard, S., Harper, A. M.: Lower limit of cerebral blood flow autoregulation in experimental renovascular hypertension in the baboon. Circ. Res.39, 555–557 (1976)
Kawamura, Y., Meyer, J. S., Hiromoto, H., Aoyagi, M., Hashi, K.: Neurogenic control of cerebral blood flow in the baboon. Effects of alpha adrenergic blockade with phenoxybenzamine on cerebral autoregulation and vasomotor reactivity to changes in PaCO2. Stroke5, 747–758 (1974)
Kobayashi, S., Waltz, A. G., Rhoton, A. L., Jr.: Effects of stimulation of cervical sympathetic nerves on cortical blood flow and vascular reactivity. Neurology21, 297–302 (1971)
Kovach, A. G. B., Hamar, J., Nyary, I., Sandor, P., Reivich, M., Dora, E., Gyulai, L., Eke, A.: Cerebral blood flow and metabolism in hemorrhagic shock in the baboon. In: Blood flow and metabolism in the brain (M. Harper, B. Jennett, D. Miller, and J. Rowan, Eds.), pp. 2.17–2.19. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone 1975
Kuschinsky, W., Wahl, M.: Alpha-receptor stimulation by endogenous and exogenous norepinephrine and blockade by phentolamine in pial arteries of cats. Circ. Res.37, 168–174 (1975)
Lassen, N. A.: Control of cerebral circulation in health and disease. Circ. Res.34, 749–760 (1974)
MacKenzie, E. T., Strandgaard, S., Graham, D. I., Jones, J. V., Harper, A. M., Farrar, J. K.: Effects of acutely induced hypertension in cats on pial arteriolar caliber, local cerebral blood flow, and the blood-brain barrier. Circ. Res.39, 33–41 (1976)
Meyer, J. S., Yoshida, K., Sakamoto, K.: Autonomic control of cerebral blood flow measured by electromagnetic flowmeters. Neurology17, 638–648 (1967)
Nielsen, K. C., Owman, Ch.: Adrenergic innervation of pial arteries related to the circle of Willis in the cat. Brain Res.6, 773–776 (1967)
Olesen, J.: Effect of intracarotid epinephrine norepinephrine and angiotensin on the regional cerebral blood flow in man. Neurology22, 978–987 (1972)
Ponte, J., Purves, M. J.: Role of the carotid body chemoreceptors and carotid sinus baroreceptors in the control of cerebral blood vessels. J. Physiol. (Lond.)237, 315–340 (1974)
Rapela, C. E., Green, H. D.: Blood flow in passive vascular beds. Circ. Res.15 (Suppl. I), 11–16 (1964)
Robertson, D. M., Dinsdale, H. B., Hayashi, T., Tu, J.: Cerebral lesions in adrenal regeneration hypertension. Am. J. Path.59, 115–132 (1970)
Strandgaard, S., MacKenzie, E. T., Sengupta, D., Rowan, J. O., Lassen, N. A., Harper, A. M.: Upper limit of autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in the baboon. Circ. Res.34, 435–440 (1974)
Strandgaard, S., Jones, J. V., MacKenzie, E. T., Harper, A. M.: Upper limit of cerebral blood flow autoregulation in experimental renovascular hypertension in the baboon. Circ. Res.37, 164–167 (1975)
Strandgaard, S., MacKenzie, E. T., Jones, J. V., Harper, A. M.: Studies on the cerebral circulation of the baboon in acutely induced hypertension. Stroke7, 287–290 (1976)
Symon, L., Held, K., Dorsch, N. W. C.: Study of regional autoregulation in the cerebral circulation to increased perfusion pressure in normocapnia and hypercapnia. Stroke4, 139–147 (1973)
Waltz, A. G., Yamaguchi, T., Regli, F.: Regulatory responses of cerebral vasculature after sympathetic denervation. Am. J. Physiol.221, 298–302 (1971)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
These investigations were supported by the Medical Research Council and Tenovus (Scotland)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MacKenzie, E.T., McGeorge, A.P., Graham, D.I. et al. Effects of increasing arterial pressure on cerebral blood flow in the baboon: Influence of the sympathetic nervous system. Pflugers Arch. 378, 189–195 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00592735
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00592735