Vasospasmogenic substance produced following subarachnoid haemorrhage, and its fate.

Fresh blood and supernatants of blood-CSF mixtures incubated for 1 to 15 days were applied to the basilar artery of adult cats, and the degree of constriction was measured with a surgical microscope. The constriction due to fresh blood was weak and transient. It seems possible to assume that serotonin isolated from platelets participates greatly in the transient vasoconstriction induced by fresh blood. Supernatants of blood-CSF mixtures incubated for three days had weak activity in comparison with the powerful and long-lasting activity of those incubated for seven days. Furthermore, mixtures incubated for 15 days had little or no activity. This change in the vasoconstrictive activity was similar to, and coincides chronologically with clinical late spasm following subarachnoid haemorrhage 34. We investigated the vasospasmogenic substance in the seventh day mixture. Heat coagulation, ultrafiltration, sephadex G-100 gel-chromatography, disc-electrophoresis, and Spectrophotography show that extracellular oxyHb has a strong spasmogenic activity. In the 15th day mixture, oxyHb is spontaneously converted to metHb. Experimentally, oxyHb has a strong vasoconstrictive activity, and metHb has no vasoconstrictive activity. We have had success in oxidizing oxyHb into metHb with sodium nitrite, thus preventing experimental vasospasm.