Impairment by damage of the pterygopalatine ganglion of nitroxidergic vasodilator nerve function in canine cerebral and retinal arteries

Circ Res. 1993 Jan;72(1):206-13. doi: 10.1161/01.res.72.1.206.

Abstract

Histochemical study revealed that transcutaneous injection of ethanol into the vicinity of the pterygopalatine ganglion greatly decreased the positive staining for NADPH diaphorase activity after 1 week in the ipsilateral ganglion of a dog and abolished the staining of perivascular nerves in the middle and posterior cerebral arteries. Transmural electrical stimulation or nicotine produced a relaxation in middle and posterior cerebral arteries isolated from the side with the nontreated ganglion (control side), whereas the relaxation was abolished or reversed to a contraction in the arteries from the side with the ethanol-treated ganglion. Nitric oxide-induced relaxations did not differ in the arteries from both sides. The response to nerve stimulation of the control arteries was suppressed by treatment with NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, and the inhibition was reversed by L-arginine. Nicotine produced a contraction followed by a relaxation in central retinal arterial strips obtained from the control side; the relaxation was abolished and the contraction was potentiated in the arteries from the treated side. The nicotine-induced relaxation was abolished by L-NA, and the contraction was suppressed by phentolamine. On the other hand, the nicotine-induced relaxation in superficial temporal arteries, susceptible to L-NA, was not attenuated by treatment with ethanol. The findings obtained so far support our hypothesis that nitric oxide released from the vasodilator nerve acts as a transmitter to produce arterial smooth muscle relaxation and suggest that the nerve fibers to the cerebral and retinal arteries arise from the pterygopalatine ganglion.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arginine / analogs & derivatives
  • Arginine / pharmacology
  • Cerebral Arteries / drug effects
  • Cerebral Arteries / innervation*
  • Denervation
  • Dogs
  • Electric Stimulation
  • Female
  • Ganglia, Parasympathetic / drug effects
  • Ganglia, Parasympathetic / physiology*
  • Male
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / drug effects*
  • NADPH Dehydrogenase / analysis
  • Nicotine / pharmacology
  • Nitric Oxide / pharmacology
  • Nitroarginine
  • Retinal Artery / drug effects
  • Retinal Artery / innervation*
  • Vasodilation / physiology

Substances

  • Nitroarginine
  • Nitric Oxide
  • Nicotine
  • Arginine
  • NADPH Dehydrogenase