Diurnal variation of cerebral blood flow in healthy humans under normal entrained conditions

Abstract

SummaryThe presence of a circadian cycle of cerebral blood flow may have implications for the occurrence of daily variations in cerebrovascular events in humans, but how cerebral blood flow varies throughout the day and its mechanism are still unclear. The study aimed to explore the diurnal variation of cerebral blood flow in healthy humans and its possible mechanisms. Arterial spin labelling images were collected at six time‐points (09:00 hours, 13:00 hours, 17:00 hours, 21:00 hours, 01:00 hours, 05:00 hours) from 18 healthy participants (22–39 years old; eight females) to analyse diurnal variations in cerebral blood flow. Resting heart rate and blood pressure at six time‐points and blood indicators (20‐hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, prostaglandin E2, noradrenaline and nitric oxide) related to cerebral vascular tone at two time‐points (09:00 hours and 21:00 hours) were collected to analyse possible influences on diurnal variations in cerebral blood flow. From 21:00 hours to 05:00 hours, parietal cortical relative cerebral blood flow tended to increase, while frontal cortical and cerebellar relative cerebral blood flow tended to decrease. There was a time‐dependent negative correlation between parietal cortical relative cerebral blood flow and resting heart rate, whereas there was a time‐dependent positive correlation between cerebellar relative cerebral blood flow and resting heart rate. The change of parietal cortical relative cerebral blood flow was positively correlated with the change of nitric oxide. There was also a time‐dependent positive correlation between mean arterial pressure and mean whole‐brain cerebral blood flow. The findings indicated that parietal cortical relative cerebral blood flow and frontal cortical/cerebellar relative cerebral blood flow showed roughly opposite trends throughout the day. The diurnal variations in relative cerebral blood flow were regional‐specific. Diurnal variation of nitric oxide and neurogenic regulation may be potential mechanisms for diurnal variation in regional relative cerebral blood flow.