Calculus Bovis-Fel Uris-Moschus Pharmacopuncture’s Effect on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow and Mean Arterial Blood Pressure in Rats

cerebrovascular circulation, hemodynamics Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effects of Calculus Bovis-Fel Uris-Moschus pharma-copuncture (BUM) on the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and the mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) in normal and cerebral ischemic rats and to investigate a possible pathway involved in the effects of BUM. Methods: The changes in the rCBF and the MABP fol-lowing BUM into Fengfu (GV16) were determined by using a laser-Doppler flow meter and a pressure trans-ducer, respectively. Results: BUM significantly increased the rCBF and de-creased the MABP in normal rats in a dose-dependent manner. The effect on the rCBF was significantly inhib-ited by pretreatment with methylene blue (0.01 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase, but was not affected by pretreatment with indomethacin (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase. The BUM-induced decrease of the MABP was changed neither by methylene blue nor by indomethacin pre-treatment. In the cerebral ischemic rats, the rCBF was stably increased upon cerebral reperfusion in the BUM group in contrast to the rapid and marked increase in the control group. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that BUM into Fengbu (GV16) increased the rCBF in a dose-depend-ent manner in the normal state; furthermore, it im-proved the stability of the rCBF in the ischemic state upon reperfusion. Also, the effects of BUM on the rCBF were attenuated by inhibition of guanylate cyclase, suggesting that the effects involved the guanylate cy-clase pathway. 1