Cerebrovascular reactivity to noradrenaline and serotonin following experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage

Abstract

This study analyzes the time course of the changes induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in the sensitivity of cat cerebral arteries to noradrenaline [norepinephrine] and serotonin. Cerebral arteries displayed a supersensitivity to these amines, which was most marked 3 days after the experiment and then gradually disappeared. The supersensitivity to serotonin was greater and longer than the response to noradrenaline. The increase in the vascular contractile response induced by SAH was similar to that seen after superior cervical ganglionectomy or intracisternal injections of 6-hydroxydopamine. Supersensitivity to noradrenaline and serotonin induced by SAH may be involved in the production of chronic cerebral vasospasm.