Neurogenic regulation of coronary blood flow: evidence for a central nervous system pathway

The central representation of neurogenically mediated coronary vasoconstriction produced by activation of the sympathetic nervous system was examined in anesthetized cats instrumented for continuous recording of coronary and femoral blood flows, arterial pressure, and heart rate. Electrical stimulation in a small region of perifornical lateral hypothalamus increased arterial pressure, heart rate, and coronary blood flow; following the administration of propranolol, a transient coronary vasoconstrictor response was unmasked. The response was mediated over the sympathetic nervous system since it was blocked by stellate ganglionectomy and by the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin. Projections to and from the lateral hypothalamic site were identified by using anterograde and retrograde pathway-tracing techniques. Paraventricular nucleus projected to lateral hypothalamus, which in turn made connections in periaqueductal gray with projections terminating in lateral reticular formation of medulla. Coronary vasoconstrictor responses qualitatively identical to those produced by hypothalamic stimulation were found with activation of paraventricular nucleus and lateral reticular formation. Interruption of neuronal transmission in the medullary site blocked the response produced by activation of hypothalamic site. These data demonstrate that coronary vasoconstriction mediated over the sympathetic nervous system can be elicited from an interconnected pathway that links sympathoexcitatory sites in forebrain and brainstem.