title: Impairment by damage of the pterygopalatine ganglion of nitroxidergic vasodilator nerve function in canine cerebral and retinal arteries.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Shiga University of Medical Sciences, Ohtsu, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ayajiki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation*; D003714:Denervation; D004285:Dogs; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005726:Ganglia, Parasympathetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects*; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D019335:Nitroarginine; D012161:Retinal Artery / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019335:Nitroarginine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D009538:Nicotine; D001120:Arginine; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase