A. Srikiatkhachorn et al., Effect of serotonin depletion on nitric oxide induced cerebrovascular nociceptive response, NEUROREPORT, 12(5), 2001, pp. 967-971
The study was conducted to investigate the effect of serotonin depletion on
nitric oxide-induced meningeal vascular response and cerebrovascular nocic
eption. Nitroglycerin was infused i.v. to control and serotonin-depleted ra
ts. Pial circulation was monitored by intravital fluorescent videomicroscop
y and Fos immunoreactivity trigeminal nucleus caudalis neurons was used as
an indicator for the cerebrovascular nociception. The results showed that t
he degree of nitric oxide-induced pial microvascular dilatation was signifi
cantly greater in the serotonin-depleted group than the control. The number
of nitric oxide-evoked Fos-immunoreactive cells between the two groups rem
ained comparable. The results suggest that though depletion of serotonin ca
n facilitate the vascular response to nitric oxide it does not alter the ni
tric oxide-induced craniovascular nociceptive response. NeuroReport 12:967-
971 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.