title: Effects of head-down tilt on cerebral blood flow and somatosensory-evoked potentials in rabbits.
abstract: Changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) were studied in rabbits exposed to head-down tilt (HDT) at 45 degrees and 75 degrees. The animals were anesthetized with alpha chloralose and the lungs were artificially ventilated. CBF was continuously measured by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), and SEPs were recorded as responses of the cortex to median nerve stimulation. In the 45 degrees HDT rabbits, CBF did not change significantly in the parietal cortex during 1 h of HDT. In contrast, in the 75 degrees HDT rabbits, CBF did not change significantly within 5 min after the onset of HDT, but decreased gradually to 79% of the pre-HDT baseline value at the end of 1 h of HDT. The latency and amplitude of SEPs did not change significantly throughout the experiment in any group. These results suggest that CBF and SEPs do not change significantly during 1 h of 45 degrees HDT and that 75 degrees HDT disturbs the regulation of the cerebral circulation but does not affect cortical somatosensory response, at least for 1 h.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, 683-8503 Japan. kawai@grape.med.tottori-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yasumasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Sadanori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Kyouko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tatebayashi
authors.forename: Yoshimitsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D018475:Head-Down Tilt; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits