Use of cholera toxin subunit B to label neural projections to lower urinary tract organs v1

This protocol is used to visualise sensory and autonomic neurons innervating organs of the lower urinary tract in an experimental adult male or female rat. The protocol is performed under anesthesia and should incorporate all local requirements for standards of animal experimentation, including methods of anesthesia, surgical environment, and post-operative monitoring and care.

Immunolabelling and clearing of intact spinal cord for visualization of lower urinary tract afferents v1

The whole-mount immunolabeling and clearing method (iDISCO) was used to visualize cholera toxin subunit B-labelled lower urinary tract afferents in the lumbosacral spinal cord of the rat. Imaging of spinal cord was performed on a light sheet microscope with a 12x lens. Concurrently, choline acetyltransferase identified preganglionic autonomic neurons and motoneurons within the spinal cord, which were used to confirm the rostrocaudal location of afferents.

The Effect of Castration on Peripheral Autonomic Neurons Supplying Mammalian Male Genitourinary System

This review paper deals with the influence of androgens (testosterone) on pelvic autonomic pathways in male mammals. The vast majority of the relevant information has been gained in experiments involving castration (testosterone deprivation) performed in male rats, and recently, in male pigs. In both species, testosterone significantly affects the biology of the pathway components, including the pelvic neurons. However, there are great differences between rats and pigs in this respect. The most significant alteration is that testosterone deprivation accomplished a few days after birth results some months later in the excessive loss (approximately 90%) of pelvic and urinary bladder trigone intramural neurons in the male pig, while no changes in the number of pelvic neurons are observed in male rats (rats do not have the intramural ganglia). In the castrated pigs, much greater numbers of pelvic neurons than in the non-castrated animals express CGRP, GAL, VIP (peptides known to have neuroprotective properties), and caspase 3, suggesting that neurons die due to apoptosis triggered by androgen deprivation. In contrast, only some morpho-electrophysiological changes affecting neurons following castration are found in male rats. Certain clinicopathological consequences of testosterone deprivation for the functioning of urogenital organs are also discussed.