Cerebral Microcirculation in the Mouse Brain

Abstract

Several reports indicate that agents which can be topically applied to the vessels on the cerebral surface, and which have marked vasoconstrictive properties in other vascular beds, produce only minimal effects on the cerebral vessels.^1-3For example, the response of the cerebrovascular bed to catechol amines is so poor as to provide a totally inadequate representation of vascular reactivity. Cerebral arteries are capable of much greater alterations of diameter as shown by their responses to respiratory gases.^4-6The problem of studying cerebroarterial reactivity is made even more difficult when small vessels are examined, since their size precludes reliable estimation of the small changes in diameter which may follow stimulation with epinephrine or levarterenol (norepinephrine). Moreover, several authors report only variable or inconsistent effects of catechols on the smaller pial arteries or arterioles.^2,3There is little doubt that it is important to study further the reactivity of these