Impairment of cerebellar blood flow autoregulation during cerebral ischemia in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Participation of the autonomic nervous system in cerebellar autoregulation during supratentorial cerebral ischemia induced by bilateral carotid ligation was studied using 23 spontaneously hypertensive rats. Cerebral and cerebellar blood flows measured by a hydrogen clearance method were evaluated under stepwise hemorrhagic hypotension before and 30 minutes after ligation and after a 30-minute recirculation period following 1 hour of ligation. alpha-Adrenergic blockade with phenoxybenzamine, beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol, and muscarinic cholinergic blockade with atropine were selectively administered before ligation for inhibition of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. Cerebral blood flow autoregulation was severely impaired during and after cerebral ischemia in each treatment group. During cerebral ischemia, cerebellar blood flow autoregulation was also significantly impaired in both the propranolol and atropine groups although it was better preserved in the phenoxybenzamine group. After recirculation, cerebellar blood flow autoregulation recovered almost to the normal range in the phenoxybenzamine and atropine groups but remained impaired in the propranolol group. Our results suggest that impaired cerebellar blood flow autoregulation in supratentorial cerebral ischemia is partly modulated by the alpha-adrenoceptor system, which is activated by hypertensive stimuli and cerebral ischemia, leading to vasoconstriction in the cerebellum.