Cerebral blood flow and interstitial fluid adenosine during hemorrhagic hypotension

This study was designed to assess the role of adenosine in autoregulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) with the use of the brain dialysis technique to sample cerebral interstitial fluid (ISF) and hydrogen clearance to measure local CBF in ketamine-anesthetized rats. In group 1 (n = 11), animals were hemorrhaged to reduce mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) from control levels (MABP = 101.1 +/- 2.6) to 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, and 30 mmHg. Cerebral autoregulation was evidenced by no significant decrease in CBF until MABP decreased to 60 mmHg. However, dialysate adenosine concentration did not increase until MABP decreased to 50 mmHg. In group 2 (bilateral dialysis; n = 11), in which the left carotid artery was ligated before reductions in MABP, left-side dialysate adenosine concentration increased at a MABP of 70 mmHg. In group 3 (bilateral dialysis; n = 6), one dialysis probe was perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing 10(-3) M 8(p-sulfophenyl)theophylline (8-SPT), an adenosine receptor antagonist, during reduction of MABP to 50 mmHg. Although there were similar reductions in CBF with or without adenosine receptor blockade, dialysate adenosine concentration was greater on the side of locally infused 8-SPT at a MABP of 50 mmHg. These data suggest that adenosine is not responsible for cerebral autoregulation at blood pressures greater than 50 mmHg but may contribute to the decrease in cerebral vascular resistance observed at arterial pressures below the autoregulatory range.