Role of central aminergic fibers in experimental cerebral ischemia in stroke-prone SHR. Relation to anesthetic effect.

Dopamine and norepinephrine fluorescence in the nucleus caudatus and putamen and cerebral cortex was markedly depleted along with rCBF reduction in symptomatic stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) with bilateral carotid artery ligation under light pentobarbital anesthesia. An accumulation of fluorescence at the intima of blood vessels, especially in the nucleus caudatus and putamen, was noted in some SHRSP under the same experimental conditions. These changes were hardly seen in deeply anesthetized SHRSP, as well as in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WK) rats. It may be possible, therefore, that released cerebral amines in acute brain ischemia accelerate the vasoconstriction and permeability of cerebral arteries, which further decreases the blood supply to these areas. Also, a barbiturate protective effect against the release of central dopamine and norepinephrine during acute brain ischemia was noted in deeply anesthetized SHRSP.