Trigeminocardiac reflex by mandibular extension on rat pial microcirculation: role of nitric oxide.

ABSTRACT: In the present study we have extended our previous findings about the effects of 10 minutes of passive mandibular extension in anesthetized Wistar rats. By prolonging the observation time to 3 hours, we showed that 10 minutes mandibular extension caused a significant reduction of the mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate respect to baseline values, which persisted up to 160 minutes after mandibular extension. These effects were accompanied by a characteristic biphasic response of pial arterioles: during mandibular extension, pial arterioles constricted and after mandibular extension dilated for the whole observation period. Interestingly, the administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone abolished the vasoconstriction observed during mandibular extension, while the admini

SUBMITTER: Lapi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4281058 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature