depletion of brain noradrenaline levels caueses a disturbance in cerebral microvasculatur tone

Chemical sympathectomy with six-hydroxydopamine leads to marked noradrenaline denervation in the nucleus ceruleus-innervated areas (Jonnson 1983) and to a decrease in noradrenaline levels measured in the cerebral cortex (Onesti et al. 1989).
Rats were subjected to chemical sympathectomy by stereotactic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the lateral ventricle. A hypertensive condition at a mean arterial pressure of about 160mm Hg was maintained for 1 hour by intravenous phenylephedrine. Compared with a control group CBF increased, cerebral autoregulation was impaired and specific gravity of the cerebral tissue revealed cerebral oedema. It was suggested that depletion of brain noradrenaline levels caueses a disturbance in cerebral microvasculatur tone and renders the cerebral blood vessels more vulnerable to hypertension (Kobayashi et al. 1991).

Topics in Neuroanaesthesia and Intensive Care

Experimental and Clinical Studies upon Cerebral Circulation, Metabolism and Intracranial Pressure

Cold, Georg E., Dahl, Bent L. 2002, XIV, 416 p., Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-540-41871-9