We examined the role of acetylcholine and nitric oxide in the increases in cerebrocortical blood flow elicited by stimulation of a region of the basal forebrain from which the major cholinergic projection to the cerebral cortex originates. In halothane-anesthetized rats a 3 x 3 mm area of the parietal cortex was exposed and the site was superfused with Ringer (37 degrees C; pH 7.3-7). Cortical blood flow was monitored at the site of superfusion by laser-Doppler flowmetry. The basal forebrain was stimulated electrically (100 microA; 50 Hz) and stimulated sites were histologically verified at the end of the experiment. With Ringer superfusion (n = 8), basal forebrain stimulation increased neocortical flow by 185 +/- 9% (mean +/- S.E.M.). The flow increase was attenuated (-38 +/- 6%; n = 5) by superfusion with the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist atropine (100 microM). Superfusion with atropine plus the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine (100 microM) did not attenuate the response further (P > 0.05 from atropine alone; n = 6). Superfusion with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor nitro-L-arginine, but not with the inactive isomer nitro-D-arginine (n = 6), attenuated the vasodilation in a dose-dependent fashion (-43 +/- 4% at 1 mM; n = 7) and reduced nitric oxide synthase catalytic activity at the site of superfusion by 95 +/- 4%. Co-application of nitro-L-arginine and atropine did not attenuate the vasodilation further (P > 0.05 from nitro-L-arginine alone; n = 6). Administration of the somewhat selective inhibitor of neuronal nitric oxide synthase 7-nitroindazole (50 mg/kg, i.p.) attenuated the increases in flow produced by topical application of N-methyl-D-aspartate (40 microM; n = 5) or by hypercapnia (n = 7), but did not affect the vasodilation produced by basal forebrain stimulation (n = 5) and by topical application of acetylcholine (10 microM; n = 5). 7-nitroindazole reduced constitutive nitric oxide synthase enzymatic activity in forebrain by 72 +/- 3% (n = 8). The data suggest that the neocortical vasodilation elicited by basal forebrain stimulation is, in part, mediated by local release of acetylcholine which, in turn, leads to increased nitric oxide synthesis in endothelial cells.