Indirect adrenergic effect of histamine in human cerebral arteries: Influence of post-mortem period

Abstract

Abstract Histamine (10−4 m) increased the radioactivity released from human cerebral arteries obtained within 6 h of death and preincubated with [3H]noradrenaline. In the presence of 10−6 m cocaine or if 7 or more hours had elapsed since death, 10−4 m histamine was unable to change basal levels of tritium outflow. The radioactivity retained by the tissue was higher when cerebral blood vessels were obtained within a post-mortem period of 6 h. These results suggest that histamine may release noradrenaline from the sympathetic innervation of human cerebral arteries and that the function of this innervation lasts only 6 h after death.