  We investigate the manifestation of the spiral structure in the distribution
of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) over the host galaxy. We construct the
simple kinematic model. It shows that the HMXBs should be displaced relative to
the spiral structure observed in such traditional star formation rate
indicators as the Halpha and FIR emissions because of their finite lifetimes.
Using Chandra observations of M51, we have studied the distribution of X-ray
sources relative to the spiral arms of this galaxy observed in Halpha. Based on
K-band data and background source number counts, we have separated the
contributions from high-mass and low-mass X-ray binaries and active galactic
nuclei. In agreement with model predictions, the distribution of HMXBs is wider
than that of bright HII regions concentrated in the region of ongoing star
formation. However, the statistical significance of this result is low, as is
the significance of the concentration of the total population of X-ray sources
to the spiral arms. We also predict the distribution of HMXBs in our Galaxy in
Galactic longitude. The distribution depends on the mean HMXB age and can
differ significantly from the distributions of such young objects as
ultracompact HII regions.
