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Action of 4‐aminopyridine on the cerebral circulation
Author(s) -
Edvinsson Lars,
Hardebo Jan Erik,
Lundh Håkan
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1981.tb00755.x
Subject(s) - cerebral blood flow , caudate nucleus , thalamus , cerebral circulation , vasoconstriction , vasomotor , cerebellum , central nervous system , blood flow , anesthesia , excitatory postsynaptic potential , neurotransmission , chemistry , cerebral cortex , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , medicine , endocrinology , neuroscience , biology , receptor
4‐Aminopyridine (4‐AP) facilitates both inhibitory and excitatory synaptic activity in the central nervous system, and may, therefore, be a drug of potential therapeutic use in brain diseases with a disturbed synaptic transmission. In the present study the vasomotor effects upon isolated feline brain vessels, and regional cerebral blood flow and brain cortical metabolism in rats were examined. At high concentrations (above 10 −6 M) a minor vasoconstriction was obtained of isolated pial vessels. Measurements of regional cerebral blood flow using the 14 C‐ethanol technique resulted in a significant increase in blood flow of caudate nucleus (93 %), thalamus (74 %) and cerebellum (82 %). The arteriovenous oxygen difference of cortical tissue was reduced from 3.20 mmol O 2 /ml to 1.69 mmol O 2 /ml by 4‐AP. This was not associated with an increase in cortical blood flow. Calculation of the cortical metabolic rate of oxygen, however, failed to demonstrate any significant change.