Changes of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity in cerebrovascular nerve fibers after cervical sympathectomy in the dog.

The presence of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity (VIP-LI) was confirmed in many neuronal perikarya of the superior cervical ganglion (SCG), as well as in many perivascular nerve fibers of the major cerebral arteries in the dog. After bilateral extirpation of the SCG, VIP-LI was decreased markedly in the basilar artery and the posterior cerebral artery, and moderately in the middle and anterior cerebral arteries.