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Measurement of changes in cerebral blood volume in spontaneously hypertensive rats following L‐arginine Infusion using dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI
Author(s) -
Caramia Francesca,
Yoshida Tazuka,
Hamberg Leena M.,
Huang Zihong,
Hunter George,
Wanke Isabel,
Zaharchuk Greg,
Moskowitz Michael A.,
Rosen Bruce R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.1910390123
Subject(s) - hemodynamics , cerebral blood flow , striatum , cerebral cortex , medicine , saline , vasodilation , cerebral blood volume , arginine , anesthesia , chemistry , endocrinology , biochemistry , amino acid , dopamine
Abstract To understand whether the NO‐dependent vasodilator L‐arginine was effective upon a chronically hypertensive cerebral capillary endothelium, dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI was used to measure the relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) changes in nonischemic spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). rCBV was measured in 11 rats at 4.7 T using fast gradient echo imaging with intravenous injection of Gd‐DTPA. Images were acquired before, immediately after, and up to 90 min after the infusion of 300 mg/kg L‐arginine ( n = 7) or of an equivalent volume of saline ( n = 4). L‐arginine increased rCBV in cortex beginning 10 min after infusion and reached significance after 30 min ( P < 0.01), reached a peak of 1.24 ± 0.06 (mean ± SEM) times pre‐injection level after 50 min, and was sustained throughout the 90 min observation period. In contrast, the rCBV in the deeper gray matter (striatum) showed no statistically significant change over the 90 min observation period. While this is consistent with previous studies showing that L‐arginine infusion can directly modulate vascular tone and cerebral hemodynamics, it demonstrates that the effect is present only in cortex, and that it can occur also in the setting of a disturbed capillary endothelium.