scholarly journals Nitric Oxide Pathways in Neurovascular Coupling Under Normal and Stress Conditions in the Brain: Strategies to Rescue Aberrant Coupling and Improve Cerebral Blood Flow

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cátia F. Lourenço ◽  
João Laranjinha
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Neuronal Dysfunction ◽  
No Bioavailability ◽  
The Brain

The brain has impressive energy requirements and paradoxically, very limited energy reserves, implying its huge dependency on continuous blood supply. Aditionally, cerebral blood flow must be dynamically regulated to the areas of increased neuronal activity and thus, of increased metabolic demands. The coupling between neuronal activity and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is supported by a mechanism called neurovascular coupling (NVC). Among the several vasoactive molecules released by glutamatergic activation, nitric oxide (•NO) is recognized to be a key player in the process and essential for the development of the neurovascular response. Classically, •NO is produced in neurons upon the activation of the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase and promotes vasodilation by activating soluble guanylate cyclase in the smooth muscle cells of the adjacent arterioles. This pathway is part of a more complex network in which other molecular and cellular intervenients, as well as other sources of •NO, are involved. The elucidation of these interacting mechanisms is fundamental in understanding how the brain manages its energy requirements and how the failure of this process translates into neuronal dysfunction. Here, we aimed to provide an integrated and updated perspective of the role of •NO in the NVC, incorporating the most recent evidence that reinforces its central role in the process from both viewpoints, as a physiological mediator and a pathological stressor. First, we described the glutamate-NMDA receptor-nNOS axis as a central pathway in NVC, then we reviewed the link between the derailment of the NVC and neuronal dysfunction associated with neurodegeneration (with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease). We further discussed the role of oxidative stress in the NVC dysfunction, specifically by decreasing the •NO bioavailability and diverting its bioactivity toward cytotoxicity. Finally, we highlighted some strategies targeting the rescue or maintenance of •NO bioavailability that could be explored to mitigate the NVC dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative conditions. In line with this, the potential modulatory effects of dietary nitrate and polyphenols on •NO-dependent NVC, in association with physical exercise, may be used as effective non-pharmacological strategies to promote the •NO bioavailability and to manage NVC dysfunction in neuropathological conditions.

Role of nitric oxide in angiotensin IV-induced increases in cerebral blood flow

1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 185-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enikö A. Kramár ◽  
Radhika Krishnan ◽  
Joseph W. Harding ◽  
John W. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Angiotensin Iv

Hemoglobin, NO, and 20-HETE interactions in mediating cerebral vasoconstriction following SAH

2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (1) ◽  
pp. R84-R89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Takeuchi ◽  
Noriyuki Miyata ◽  
Marija Renic ◽  
David R. Harder ◽  
Richard J. Roman
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ◽  
Methyl Ester ◽  
Cerebral Vasoconstriction ◽  
Vasoactive Factors ◽  
Vasoconstrictor Response

Recent studies have indicated that 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) contributes to the fall in cerebral blood flow (CBF) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), but the factors that stimulate the production of 20-HETE are unknown. This study examines the role of vasoactive factors released by clotting blood vs. the scavenging of nitric oxide (NO) by hemoglobin (Hb) in the fall in CBF after SAH. Intracisternal (icv) injection of blood produced a greater and more prolonged (120 vs. 30 min) decrease in CBF than that produced by a 4% solution of Hb. Pretreating rats with Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 10 mg/kg iv) to block the synthesis of NO had no effect on the fall in CBF produced by an icv injection of blood. l-NAME enhanced rather than attenuated the fall in CBF produced by an icv injection of Hb. Blockade of the synthesis of 20-HETE with TS-011 (0.1 mg/kg iv) prevented the sustained fall in CBF produced by an icv injection of blood and the transient vasoconstrictor response to Hb. Hb (0.1%) reduced the diameter of the basilar artery (BA) of rats in vitro by 10 ± 2%. This response was reversed by TS-011 (100 nM). Pretreatment of vessels with l-NAME (300 μM) reduced the diameter of BA and blocked the subsequent vasoconstrictor response to the addition of Hb to the bath. TS-011 returned the diameter of vessels exposed to l-NAME and Hb to that of control. These results suggest that the fall in CBF after SAH is largely due to the release of vasoactive factors by clotting blood rather than the scavenging of NO by Hb and that 20-HETE contributes the vasoconstrictor response of cerebral vessels to both Hb and blood.

scholarly journals Evidence That Acetylcholine Mediates Increased Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity in Crucian Carp through a Nitric Oxide—Dependent Mechanism

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Hylland ◽  
Göran E. Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Blood Flow Velocity ◽  
Crucian Carp ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity ◽  
Early Event ◽  
Brain Blood Flow ◽  
The Brain

Nitric oxide (NO)–dependent regulation of brain blood flow has not been proven to exist in fish or other ectothermic vertebrates. Using epi-illumination microscopy on the brain surface (optic lobes) of crucian carp ( Carassius carassius), we show that superfusing the brain with acetylcholine (ACh) induces an increase in cerebral blood flow velocity that can be completely blocked by the NO synthase inhibitors NG-nitro-l-arginine methylester (L-NAME) and NG-nitro-l-arginine. Also, sodium nitroprusside, which decomposes to liberate NO, causes an increase in cerebral blood flow velocity. By contrast, L-NAME does not block the increase in blood flow velocity caused by anoxia. The results suggest that NO is an endogenous vasodilator in crucian carp brain that mediates the effects of ACh. Because teleost fish deviated from other vertebrates 400 million years ago, these results suggest that NO-dependent brain blood flow regulation was an early event in vertebrate evolution.

scholarly journals Diverse Functions of Pericytes in Cerebral Blood Flow Regulation and Ischemia

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 883-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Fernandez-Klett ◽  
Josef Priller
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Flow Regulation ◽  
Functional Hyperemia ◽  
Mural Cells ◽  
Ischemic Tissue ◽  
The Brain

Pericytes are mural cells with contractile properties. Here, we provide evidence that microvascular pericytes modulate cerebral blood flow in response to neuronal activity (‘functional hyperemia’). Besides their role in neurovascular coupling, pericytes are responsive to brain damage. Cerebral ischemia is associated with constrictions and death of capillary pericytes, followed by fibrotic reorganization of the ischemic tissue. The data suggest that precapillary arterioles and capillaries are major sites of hemodynamic regulation in the brain.

Nitric oxide mediation of chemoregulation but not autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in primates

1996 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Gregory Thompson ◽  
Ryszard M. Pluta ◽  
Mary E. Girton ◽  
Edward H. Oldfield
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
No Production ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Continuous Release ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors sought to develop a model for assessing in vivo regulation of cerebral vasoregulation by nitric oxide (NO), originally described as endothelial-derived relaxing factor, and to use this model to establish the role of NO in the regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in primates. By using regional intraarterial perfusion, the function of NO in cerebral vasoregulation was examined without producing confounding systemic physiological effects. Issues examined were: whether resting vasomotor tone requires NO; whether NO mediates vasodilation during chemoregulation and autoregulation of CBF; and whether there is a relationship between the degree of hypercapnia and hypotension and NO production. Twelve anesthetized (0.5% isoflurane) cynomolgus monkeys were monitored continuously for cortical CBF, PaCO2, and mean arterial pressure (MAP), which were systematically altered to provide control and experimental curves of chemoregulation (CBF vs. PaCO2) and autoregulation (CBF vs. MAP) during continuous intracarotid infusion of 1) saline and 2) an NO synthase inhibitor (NOSI), either l-n-monomethyl arginine or nitro l-arginine. During basal conditions (PaCO2 of 38–42 mm Hg) NOSI infusion of internal carotid artery (ICA) reduced cortical CBF from 62 (saline) to 53 ml/100 g/per minute (p < 0.01), although there was no effect on MAP. Increased CBF in response to hypercapnia was completely blocked by ICA NOSI. The difference in regional (r)CBF between ICA saline and NOSI infusion increased linearly with PaCO2 when PaCO2 was greater than 40 mm Hg, indicating a graded relationship of NO production, increasing PaCO2, and increasing CBF. Diminution of CBF with NOSI infusion was reversed by simultaneous ICA infusion of l-arginine, indicating a direct role of NO synthesis in the chemoregulation of CBF. Hypotension and hypertension were induced with trimethaphan camsylate (Arfonad) and phenylephrine at constant PaCO2 (40 ± 1 mm Hg). Autoregulation in response to changes in MAP from 50 to 140 mm Hg was unaffected by ICA infusion of NOSI. In primates, cerebral vascular tone is modulated in vivo by NO; continuous release of NO is necessary to maintain homeostatic cerebral vasodilation; vasodilation during chemoregulation of CBF is mediated directly by NO production; autoregulatory vasodilation with hypotension is not mediated by NO; and increasing PaCO2 induces increased NO production.

scholarly journals Vasodilator tone in the llama fetus: the role of nitric oxide during normoxemia and hypoxemia

2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (3) ◽  
pp. R776-R783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia M. Sanhueza ◽  
Raquel A. Riquelme ◽  
Emilio A. Herrera ◽  
Dino A. Giussani ◽  
Carlos E. Blanco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Vascular Resistance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Blood Flows ◽  
Vasoconstrictor Effect ◽  
Vascular Beds ◽  
Oxide Synthase

The fetal llama responds to hypoxemia, with a marked peripheral vasoconstriction but, unlike the sheep, with little or no increase in cerebral blood flow. We tested the hypothesis that the role of nitric oxide (NO) may be increased during hypoxemia in this species, to counterbalance a strong vasoconstrictor effect. Ten fetal llamas were operated under general anesthesia. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate, cardiac output, total vascular resistance, blood flows, and vascular resistances in cerebral, carotid and femoral vascular beds were determined. Two groups were studied, one with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) blocker NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), and the other with 0.9% NaCl (control group), during normoxemia, hypoxemia, and recovery. During normoxemia, l-NAME produced an increase in fetal MAP and a rapid bradycardia. Cerebral, carotid, and femoral vascular resistance increased and blood flow decreased to carotid and femoral beds, while cerebral blood flow did not change significantly. However, during hypoxemia cerebral and carotid vascular resistance fell by 44% from its value in normoxemia after l-NAME, although femoral vascular resistance progressively increased and remained high during recovery. We conclude that in the llama fetus: 1) NO has an important role in maintaining a vasodilator tone during both normoxemia and hypoxemia in cerebral and femoral vascular beds and 2) during hypoxemia, NOS blockade unmasked the action of other vasodilator agents that contribute, with nitric oxide, to preserving blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissues.

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