Nifedipine reduces the increases in cerebral blood flow during hypercapnic episodes

1. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the rat was monitored by a venous outflow technique with an extracorporeal circulation which allowed for continuous monitoring of flow over the several hours of the study. 2. Brief challenges with carbon dioxide (CO2) increased the CBF. 3. Nifedipine (1.00 mg/kg), a dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, attenuated the response of the animal to hypercapnia, while leaving the basal flow rate unchanged. 4. This study may have significant implications as to the effect of nifedipine on CBF. 5. Since similar results have been obtained with nifedipine in anoxia, this study suggests that the responses to anoxia and hypercapnia are interrelated and that the resulting hyperemia may be governed by the same mechanisms.