Spinal cord blood flow in the rat under normal physiological conditions.

Regional spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) was measured in a group of rats under conditions of normothermia, normocarbia, normoxia, and normal blood pressure, using the hydrogen clearance technique. Regional SCBF in the cervical white matter was 26.8 +/- 1 (SE) ml/100 g/min and in the cervical gray matter 53.6 +/- 2.5; in the thoracic white matter it was 22.2 +/- 2.4 ml/100 g/min and in the thoracic gray matter 41.2 +/- 12/6 ml/100 g/min; and in the lumbar gray matter it was 52.3 +/- 1.9 ml/100 g/min. The effect of changes in blood pressure on SCBF (autoregulation) was investigated in nine rats. We have observed that SCBF remains relatively constant in the blood pressure range of 45 to 165 mm Hg and assumes a passive flow below or above this range.