The Effects of Serotonin on Local Cerebral Blood Flow

This study was undertaken to measure the effects of serotonin administration on local cerebral blood flow following blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption with hypertonic urea. Rats were anesthetized with halothane in nitrous oxide and oxygen (70%:30%). In some animals urea (3.5 M) was infused retrogradely through an external carotid catheter, followed after 10 min by serotonin (50 ng kg−1 min−1) or physiological saline. Local cerebral blood flow was measured using the 14C-iodoantipyrine quantitative autoradiographic technique of Sakurada et al. (1978). The administration of saline or urea alone had only minimal effects on local cerebral blood flow. When the BBB was intact, serotonin produced a significant fall in regional blood flow only in the caudate nucleus. Following BBB disruption, however, serotonin produced a marked decrease in local perfusion in a number of discrete brain areas that are supplied by blood from the internal carotid artery. On the other hand, there were increases in local perfusion in areas not supplied by the internal carotid artery.

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