Nerve endings and pharmacological receptors in cerebral vessels

1. The cerebral vessels possess adrenergic, cholinergic, serotonergic and peptidergic innervations. 2. The cerebral vessels have alpha- and beta-adrenergic, cholinergic, serotonergic, histaminergic H1 and H2 and dopaminergic receptors whose activation by different agents causes vasomotor responses. 3. The induced effects by noradrenaline, adrenaline and serotonin are characterized by a cerebral vasoconstriction clearly manifested in man, the awake or anesthetized animal and isolated vessels. The vasoconstrictor response generally obeys an activation of specific receptors. 4. Under experimental conditions acetylcholine, histamine, dopamine and isoproterenol relax these vessels, in which cholinergic, H2-histaminergic, dopaminergic and beta-adrenergic (beta 1) receptors are implicated, respectively.