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l ‐Arginine dilates rat pial arterioles by nitric oxide‐dependent mechanisms and increases blood flow during focal cerebral ischaemia
Author(s) -
Morikawa Eiharu,
Rosenblatt Sami,
Moskowitz Michael A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1992.tb13382.x
Subject(s) - nitric oxide , middle cerebral artery , cerebral blood flow , arteriole , arginine , nitric oxide synthase , medicine , anesthesia , ischemia , vasodilation , blood flow , endocrinology , microcirculation , chemistry , biochemistry , amino acid
l ‐Arginine (≥ 30 mg kg −1 , i.v.), but not d ‐arginine (300 mg kg −1 ) administered 5 min after unilateral common carotid/middle cerebral artery occlusion increased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) within the dorsolateral ischaemic cortex in spontaneously hypertensive rats. l ‐Arginine (300 mg kg −1 ) increased rCBF from 22 ± 2.7 to 33 ± 4% of baseline as measured by laser‐Doppler flowmetry. This increase may explain the ability of l ‐arginine to reduce infarct size following focal cerebral ischaemia, as reported previously. The mechanism appears to be mediated by nitric oxide since topical l ‐NAME (1 μ m ), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, decreased pial arteriole calibre from 115 ± 2.2 to 106 ± 0.9% of baseline following l ‐arginine infusion (300 mg kg −1 ).