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Nitroxidergic innervation of human cerebral arteries
Author(s) -
Taktakishvili Otar M,
Lin LiHsien,
Vanderheyden Andrew D,
Nashelsky Marcus,
Talman William T
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a475
Subject(s) - circle of willis , cerebral arteries , anatomy , basilar artery , nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate , cerebral circulation , nitric oxide synthase , nitric oxide , chemistry , vasodilation , medicine , biology , biochemistry , enzyme , oxidase test
Animal studies using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase (NADPH‐d) histochemistry have reported a dense perivascular plexus of presumed nitroxidergic nerve fibers throughout the circle of Willis. The highest density of fibers was found in the anterior circulation. Those fibers supplying the anterior cerebral circulation originate in the parasympathetic pterygopalatine ganglia. Human correlates to these findings have not been demonstrated. We hypothesized that nerves to human cerebral arteries contain neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Using bovine a‐Chymotrypsin antigen retrieval in fixed postmortem human tissue we found nNOS‐immunoreactivity (IR) in the anterior, posterior and middle cerebral arteries and in the proximal internal carotid and basilar arteries. Most IR bundles and fibers ran parallel to the main axis of the artery, although some small fibers ran perpendicular to that axis. The distribution of nNOS‐IR fibers in the human circle of Willis and its major branches is similar to that reported previously in other species. We conjecture from these findings that nitric oxide synthesized from nNOS may serve as a vasodilator of human cerebral arteries as has been shown in experimental animals. Support: NIH HLR01 59593 and VA Merit Review.