Involvement of nitric oxide in the modulation of dural arterial blood flow in the rat

Nitric oxide (NO) has been proposed to be a key molecule in the pathogenesis of migraine pain and other headaches that are linked to vascular disorders. Several lines of evidence indicate that the meningeal vascularization is crucially involved in the generation of these headaches. In an experimental model in the rat a dominating role of calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) in causing neurogenic vasodilatation and increased blood flow has been shown. The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of NO in this model with regard to the meningeal blood flow. The blood flow in and around the medial meningeal artery (dural arterial flow) was recorded in the exposed parietal dura mater encephali of barbiturate anaesthetized rats using laser Doppler flowmetry. Local electrical stimulation of the dura mater (pulses of 0.5 ms delivered at 7.5–17.5 V and 5 or 10 Hz for 30 s) caused temporary increases in dural arterial flow for about 1 min that reached peaks of 1.6–2.6 times the basal flow. The effects of NO synthase (NOS) inhibitors on the basal flow and the electrically evoked increases in flow were examined. Systemic (i.v.) administration of N ω ‐nitro‐ L ‐arginine methyl ester ( L ‐NAME) at cumulative doses of 10 and 50 mg kg −1 lowered the basal flow to 87 and 72%, respectively, of the control and reduced the evoked increases in blood flow to 82 and 44% on an average. Both these effects could partly be reversed by 300 mg kg −1 L ‐arginine. The systemic arterial pressure was increased by L ‐NAME at both doses. Injection of the stereoisomer D ‐NAME at same doses did not change basal flow and evoked increases in flow. Topical application of L ‐NAME (10 −4 –10 −2   M ) was effective only at the highest concentration, which caused lowering of the basal blood flow to 78% of the control; the evoked increases in flow were not changed. Topical application of 2‐amino‐5,6‐dihydro‐6‐methyl‐4H‐1,3‐thiazine (AMT), a specific inhibitor of the inducible NOS, at concentrations of 10 −4 –10 −2   M lowered the basal flow to 89, 87.5 and 85%, respectively, but did not significantly change the evoked flow increases. Same concentrations of 7‐nitroindazole monosodium salt (7‐NINA), a specific inhibitor of the neuronal NOS, had no significant effects on basal flow and evoked increases in flow. It is concluded that NO is involved in the maintenance of the basal level of dural arterial blood flow as well as in the electrically evoked flow increases, which have been shown to be mainly mediated by CGRP released from dural afferent fibres. The most important source of NO is probably the endothelium of dural arterial vessels. The synergistic effect of NO and CGRP on the stimulated blood flow may be in part due to a NO mediated facilitation of the CGRP release.British Journal of Pharmacology (2000) 129 , 1397–1404; doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0703220