An electrophysiological study of descending projections to the lumbar spinal cord in adult male rats

1993 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junichi Tanaka ◽  
Arthur P. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Lumbar Spinal ◽  
Descending Projections

Supraspinal projections to the ventromedial lumbar spinal cord in adult male rats

1990 ◽  
Vol 300 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shen ◽  
Arthur P. Arnold ◽  
Paul E. Micevych
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

scholarly journals Spinal Cord Injury Causes Reduction of Galanin and Gastrin Releasing Peptide mRNA Expression in the Spinal Ejaculation Generator of Male Rats

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Wiggins ◽  
Jonathan E. Sledd ◽  
Lique M. Coolen
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Gastrin Releasing Peptide ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Contusion Injury ◽  
Spinal Contusion ◽  
Lumbar Spinal ◽  
Injury Causes

Spinal cord injury (SCI) in men is commonly associated with sexual dysfunction, including anejaculation, and chronic mid-thoracic contusion injury in male rats also impairs ejaculatory reflexes. Ejaculation is controlled by a spinal ejaculation generator consisting of a population of lumbar spinothalamic (LSt) neurons that control ejaculation through release of four neuropeptides including galanin and gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) onto lumbar and sacral autonomic and motor nuclei. It was recently demonstrated that spinal contusion injury in male rats caused reduction of GRP-immunoreactivity, but not galanin-immunoreactivity in LSt cells, indicative of reduced GRP peptide levels, but inconclusive results for galanin. The current study further tests the hypothesis that contusion injury causes a disruption of GRP and galanin mRNA in LSt cells. Male rats received mid-thoracic contusion injury and galanin and GRP mRNA were visualized 8 weeks later in the lumbar spinal cord using fluorescent in situ hybridization. Spinal cord injury significantly reduced GRP and galanin mRNA in LSt cells. Galanin expression was higher in LSt cells compared to GRP. However, expression of the two transcripts were positively correlated in LSt cells in both sham and SCI animals, suggesting that expression for the two neuropeptides may be co-regulated. Immunofluorescent visualization of galanin and GRP peptides demonstrated a significant reduction in GRP-immunoreactivity, but not galanin in LSt cells, confirming the previous observations. In conclusion, SCI reduced GRP and galanin expression in LSt cells with an apparent greater impact on GRP peptide levels. GRP and galanin are both essential for triggering ejaculation and thus such reduction may contribute to ejaculatory dysfunction following SCI in rats.

scholarly journals Androgen Regulates the Sexually Dimorphic Gastrin-Releasing Peptide System in the Lumbar Spinal Cord that Mediates Male Sexual Function

Endocrinology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 150 (8) ◽  
pp. 3672-3679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirotaka Sakamoto ◽  
Keiko Takanami ◽  
Damian G. Zuloaga ◽  
Ken-ichi Matsuda ◽  
Cynthia L. Jordan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Testicular Feminization ◽  
Western Blots ◽  
Gastrin Releasing Peptide ◽  
Real Time Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

A collection of neurons in the upper lumbar spinal cord of male rats projects to the lower lumbar spinal cord, releasing gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) onto somatic and autonomic centers known to regulate male sexual reflexes such as erection and ejaculation. Because these reflexes are androgen dependent, we asked whether manipulating levels of androgen in adult rats would affect GRP expression in this spinal center. We found that castration resulted, 28 d later, in a profound decrease in the expression of GRP in the spinal cord, as reflected in immunocytochemistry and competitive ELISA for the protein as well as real-time quantitative PCR for the transcript. These effects were prevented if the castrates were treated with testosterone propionate. Genetically male (XY) rats with the dysfunctional testicular feminization allele for the androgen receptor (AR) displayed GRP mRNA and protein levels in the spinal cord similar to those of females, indicating that androgen normally maintains the system through AR. We saw no effect of castration or the testicular feminization allele on expression of the receptor for GRP in the spinal cord, but castration did reduce expression of AR transcripts within the spinal cord as revealed by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blots. Taken together, these results suggest that androgen signaling plays a pivotal role in the regulation of GRP expression in male lumbar spinal cord. A greater understanding of how androgen modulates the spinal GRP system might lead to new therapeutic approaches to male sexual dysfunction.

Region-specific changes in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and ERK5 in rat micturition pathways following cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis

2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (3) ◽  
pp. R1368-R1375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Ya Qiao ◽  
Melisa A. Gulick
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Urinary Bladder ◽  
Visceral Pain ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Bladder Inflammation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

Chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder generates hyperalgesia and allodynia. Growing evidence suggests a role of ERK in mediating somatic and visceral pain processing. In the present studies, we characterized and compared the activation of two ERK isoforms, ERK1/2 and ERK5, in micturition pathways, including the urinary bladder, lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and spinal cord in adult female and male rats before and after cyclophosphamide (CYP)-induced bladder inflammation. Results showed differential activation of ERK1/2 and ERK5 in these regions following cystitis. The level of phospho-ERK1/2 but not phospho-ERK5 was increased in the urinary bladder; the level of phospho-ERK5 but not phospho-ERK1/2 was increased in DRG; and the level of phospho-ERK1/2 but not phospho-ERK5 was increased in lumbar spinal cord following cystitis compared with control. Cystitis-induced upregulation of phospho-ERK1/2 and phospho-ERK5 was time dependent and showed similar patterns in female and male rats. The level of phospho-ERK1/2 in bladder was increased at 2 and 8 h after CYP injection; the level of phospho-ERK5 in DRG was increased at 8 and 48 h after CYP injection; and the level of phospho-ERK1/2 in lumbar spinal cord was increased at 48 h after CYP injection. The result that phospho-ERK5 was exclusively increased in DRG neurons, while phospho-ERK1/2 was increased in the spinal cord and the urinary bladder after cystitis, suggests a region-specific effect of neurotrophins on micturition pathways following bladder inflammation.

Spinal Cholinergic Neurons Activated During Locomotion: Localization and Electrophysiological Characterization

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 3537-3547 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Huang ◽  
B. R. Noga ◽  
P. A. Carr ◽  
B. Fedirchuk ◽  
L. M. Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Cholinergic Neurons ◽  
Central Canal ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Fictive Locomotion ◽  
Double Labeling ◽  
Cholinergic Interneurons ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

The objective of the present study was to determine the location of the cholinergic neurons activated in the spinal cord of decerebrate cats during fictive locomotion. Locomotion was induced by stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR). After bouts of locomotion during a 7–9 h period, the animals were perfused and the L3–S1 spinal cord segments removed. Cats in the control group were subjected to the same surgical procedures but no locomotor task. The tissues were sectioned and then stained by immunohistochemical methods for detection of the c-fos protein and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) enzyme. The resultant c-fos labeling in the lumbar spinal cord was similar to that induced by fictive locomotion in the cat. ChAT-positive cells also clearly exhibited fictive locomotion induced c-fos labeling. Double labeling with c-fos and ChAT was observed in cells within ventral lamina VII, VIII, and possibly IX. Most of them were concentrated in the medial portion of lamina VII close to lamina X, similar in location to the partition and central canal cells found by Barber and collaborators. The number of ChAT and c-fos–labeled neurons was increased following fictive locomotion and was greatest in the intermediate gray, compared with dorsal and ventral regions. The results are consistent with the suggestion that cholinergic interneurons in the lumbar spinal cord are involved in the production of fictive locomotion. Cells in the regions positive for double-labeled cells were targeted for electrophysiological study during locomotion, intracellular filling, and subsequent processing for ChAT immunohistochemistry. Three cells identified in this way were vigorously active during locomotion in phase with ipsilateral extension, and they projected to the contralateral side of the spinal cord. Thus a new population of spinal cord cells can be defined: cholinergic partition cells with commissural projections that are active during the extension phase of locomotion.

scholarly journals Effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Ziziphora clinopodioides on apoptosis and alteration of caspase-3 and caspase-9 gene expression in anterior horn neurons of the spinal cord after sciatic nerve compression in male rats

2021 ◽  
pp. 222-235
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Sciatic Nerve ◽  
Aqueous Extract ◽  
Caspase 3 ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Caspase 9 ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

Background and Aim: Caspase family genes promote degeneration and are involved in apoptotic processes. The Ziziphora clinopodioides from the mint family (Lamiaceae) is one of the plants strong with anti-inflammatory effects and involved in the process of nervous system repair. The present study aimed to determine the effects of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Ziziphora clinopodioides on apoptosis and alteration of caspase-3 and caspase-9 gene expression after sciatic nerve compression in male rats. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 24 male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were randomly assigned to four groups (n=6 in each group): control, compression, treatment with aqueous, and treatment with alcoholic extracts at a dose of 75 mg/kg. The extract was injected intraperitoneally on compression day and seven days later. After 28 days, samples were taken from the lumbar spinal cord subsequent to performing the perfusion method, and the samples were studied in two ways. Thereafter, in each group, total RNA was extracted from the lumbar spinal cord, cDNA was synthesized; subsequently, the expression changes in caspases-3 and caspases-9 were compared. Results: Based on the results, the number of neurons significantly decreased in the compression group, as compared to that in the control group, and demonstrated a significant increase in the aqueous extract group, in comparison with the compression group. Furthermore, the amount of caspases-3 and caspases-9 expression increased significantly in the compression group, compared to that in the control group. Moreover, caspase-3 and caspase-9 gene expression increased in the aqueous extract group, as compared to that in the compression group (P<0.001). Conclusion: It seems that the, the extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides has neuroprotective effects due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as phenolic and flavonoid compounds, such as pulegone.

scholarly journals Expression of changes in NT3 gene after rat's sciatica nerve compression in the presence of hydroalcoholic extract of mountain tea (Stachyslavandulifolia)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariba Ghasemzadeh ◽  
Maryam Tehranipour ◽  
Khadijeh Nezhad Shahrokhabadi
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Alcoholic Extract ◽  
Hydroalcoholic Extract ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Soxhlet Method ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

Introduction: Neurotrophic factors change in response to nerve damage. Stachyslavandulifolia belongs to the Laminaceae family and since tea has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, therefore, this study aimed to determine the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of mountain tea and its effect on NT3 gene expression after compression. Methods: In this experimental study, at first the hydro-alcoholic extract of stachys was prepared by the Soxhlet method. In this study, 36 Wistar male rats , 250-300 gr, were randomly divided into 9 groups, 4 rats in each group, and included control, compression (1, 7, 14 and 21 days) and experimental (1, 7, 14 and 28 days) groups. Experimental groups were treated by 75 mg / kg of hydro-alcoholic extract of stachys and to induce the stress in the control group, saline serum was injected. In compression and experimental groups , the sciatic nerve of right leg was compressed for 60 seconds. The first injection of extract in experimental group was performed intraperitoneally and immediately after the compression and the second one was injected 7 days later. Then the sampling was performed of lumbar spinal cord on 1, 7, 14 and 28 days in compression and experimental groups and the total RNA was extracted from the spinal cord segments, cDNA was synthesized and after that the alteration of gene expression of NT3 samples was studied in both samples, without treatment and treated with hydro-alcoholic extract.Data were analyzed using MxPro software and Anova test with a significant level of p <0.05 and Excel software was used for drawing graphs. Results: The results showed that NT3 gene expression was significantly increased in the compression and treatment groups (p <0.001). Although, the NT3 gene expression was decreased in the treatment group compared to the compression group. Conclusion: It seems that hydroalcoholic extract of Stachyslavandulifolia shoots did not affect NT3 gene expression.

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