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Evidence that nitric oxide mediates the cyclic GMP response to synaptic activity in the rat superior cervical ganglion.

Preganglionic nerve stimulation in the rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) caused an increase in guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP) in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. This increase was inhibited by oxyhaemoglobin, and blocked stereoselectively by an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, NG-nitro-L-arginine. Thus, nitric oxide or a similar substance appears to mediate the neuronal cyclic GMP response to synaptic activity in the rat SCG.

Animals↗

Responses of medullary raphespinal neurons to electrical stimulation of thoracic sympathetic afferents, vagal afferents, and to other sensory inputs in cats.

1. Medullary raphespinal neurons antidromically activated from the T2-T5 segments were tested for responses to electrical stimulation of cervical vagal and thoracic sympathetic afferents (by stimulating the left stellate ganglion), somatic probing, auditory stimuli, and visual stimuli in cats anesthetized with alpha-chloralose. A total of 99 neurons in the raphe nuclei were studied; the locations of 76 cells were histologically confirmed. Neurons were located in raphe magnus (RM, 65%), raphe obscurus (RO, 32%), and raphe pallidus (RPa, 4%). The mean conduction velocity of these neurons was 62 +/- 2.9 (SE) m/s with a range of 1.1-121 m/s. 2. A total of 60/99 tested neurons responded to electrical stimulation of sympathetic afferents. Quantitation of responses was obtained for 55 neurons. With one exception, all responsive neurons were excited and exhibited an early burst of spikes with a mean latency of 16 +/- 1.2 ms. From a spontaneous discharge rate of 5.2 +/- 1.2 spikes/s, neuronal activity increased by 2.9 +/- 0.3 spikes/stimulus. In addition to an early peak, 15 neurons (25%) exhibited a late burst of spikes with a latency of 182 +/- 12.9 ms; neuronal activity increased by 5.0 +/- 1.3 spikes/stimulus. Duration of the late peak (130 +/- 18.5 ms) was longer than for the early peak (18 +/- 0.7 ms), but threshold voltages for eliciting each peak were comparable. Sixteen of 29 spontaneously active neurons exhibited a postexcitatory depression of activity that lasted for 163 +/- 19.1 ms. All but one tested neuron in RO responded to stimulation of sympathetic afferents, but 65% of neurons in RM responded to this stimulus. 3. In response to vagal afferent stimulation, 19% of 57 neurons exhibited inhibition only, 11% were only excited, and 9% were either excited or inhibited, depending on the stimulus paradigm used; the remaining 61% of neurons were unresponsive. From a spontaneous rate of 7.9 +/- 3.8 spikes/s, excited cells increased their discharge rate by 1.6 +/- 0.3 spikes/stimulus. Activity of inhibited cells was reduced from 21.3 +/- 5.8 to 7.8 +/- 3.1 spikes/s. The conditioning-test (CT) technique was used to assess 11 neurons' responses. Stellate ganglion stimulation was the test stimulus, and vagal stimulation the conditioning stimulus. Vagal stimulation reduced the neuronal responses to stellate ganglion stimulation by an average of 50% with a CT interval of 60-100 ms, and cell responses returned to control after 300 ms. With spontaneous cell activity, low frequencies of vagal stimulation were generally excitatory, and high frequencies (10-20 Hz) inhibitory.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Recurrent synaptic activation of the bullfrog sympathetic ganglion cells by direct intracellular stimulation.

In a certain group (type 2 cells) of bullfrog sympathetic ganglion cells, an action potential exhibiting a triphasic after-potential was produced when the cells were activated by direct intracellular stimulation. This triphasic after-potential consisted of two different potential components, namely, a depolarizing response (DR) and an after-hyperpolarization. The amplitude of DR was increased by increasing the interval between stimuli. Large DRs exceeded the threshold of the cell membrane and produced repetitive firings of spike potentials. The DR was selectively depressed and eventually eliminated in a low-Ca solution. Eserine (10(-5) M) reversibly increased both the amplitude and duration of the DR, and d-tubocurarine reversibly depressed it. These results indicate that the DR of type 2 cells is the EPSP mediated by the nicotinic action of acetylcholine released from preganglionic nerve terminals. Preganglionic nerve fibers innervating type 2 cells are activated through some kind of recurrent pathway formed between them. Recurrent activation of type 2 cells seems to be thus induced when the cells are activated by direct intracellular stimulation.

Action Potentials↗

Presynaptic inhibition in the crayfish CNS: pathways and synaptic mechanisms.

I studied the pathways that produce primary afferent depolarization (PAD) and presynaptic inhibition during crayfish escape behavior. Simultaneous intracellular recordings were obtained from interneurons and primary afferent axons in the neuropil of the sixth abdominal ganglion. In several experiments, a sucrose-gap recording of PAD accompanied the intracellular impalements. I have identified PAD-producing inhibitory interneurons (PADIs) that are fired by a single impulse in the lateral (LG) or medial (MG) giant, escape-command axons; the PADIs appear to be directly responsible for presynaptic inhibition of primary afferent input to identified mechanosensory interneurons. PADI spikes, elicited by injection of depolarizing current, produced unitary PAD with constant short latency (mean = 0.97 +/- 0.12 SD ms). The unitary PADs were capable of following PADI impulses one for one at frequencies greater than 100 Hz, and the amplitude of unitary PAD was increased by injection of chloride into the afferent terminals. Therefore, the PADIs appear to directly produce an increase in chloride conductance in the primary afferent terminals. Intracellular injections of Lucifer yellow or horseradish peroxidase (HRP) revealed three morphological types of PADI. Their axonal branches and terminals are bilateral and overlap extensively with the innervation fields of all 10 sensory roots of the sixth ganglion. The three morphological types of PADI were physiologically indistinguishable. In several cases, the impaled PADI was shown to produce unitary PAD in more than one afferent of a given root as well as in afferents of adjacent roots. Therefore, the PADIs appear to diverge widely and contact many afferents in all of the sixth-ganglion sensory roots. Stimulation, caudal to the fifth ganglion, of an MG that had been interrupted rostral to the fifth ganglion produced no PAD in sixth-ganglion afferents. Also, stimulation of an MG or an LG in a surgically isolated sixth abdominal ganglion failed to produce PAD. Therefore, the pathway between the MGs and PADIs is activated exclusively within the rostral abdominal ganglia. Direct stimulation in the second and third abdominal ganglia of the segmental giants (SGs) produced a polysynaptic, suprathreshold response in the PADIs. This response was compound and was not due to the activity of the identified corollary discharge interneurons, CDI-2 and CDI-3, that are fired by the SGs. Therefore, the primary input to the PADIs must come from other, unidentified CDIs that are driven by the SGs. PADIs were not fired by shocks to the sensory portions of any peripheral roots even though these shocks produced PAD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Angiotensin II induces catecholamine release by direct ganglionic excitation.

Angiotensin II (ANG) is known to facilitate catecholamine release from peripheral sympathetic neurons by enhancing depolarization-dependent exocytosis. In addition, a direct excitation by ANG of peripheral sympathetic nerve activity has recently been described. This study determined the significance of the latter mechanism for angiotensin-induced catecholamine release in the pithed rat. Rats were anesthetized and instrumented for measuring either hemodynamics and renal sympathetic nerve activity or plasma catecholamine concentrations in response to successively increasing doses of angiotensin infusions. Even during ganglionic blockade by hexamethonium (20 mg/kg), angiotensin dose-dependently elevated sympathetic nerve activity, whereas blood pressure-equivalent doses of phenylephrine were ineffective. Independently of central nervous sympathetic activity and ganglionic transmission, angiotensin (0.1 to 1 microg/kg) also induced an up-to 27-fold increase in plasma norepinephrine levels, reaching 2.65 ng/mL. Preganglionic electrical stimulation (0.5 Hz) raised basal norepinephrine levels 11-fold and further enhanced the angiotensin-induced increase in norepinephrine (4.04 ng/mL at 1 microg/kg ANG). Stimulation of sympathetic nerve activity and norepinephrine release were suppressed by candesartan (1 mg/kg) or tetrodotoxin (100 microg/kg), respectively. Angiotensin enhanced plasma norepinephrine, heart rate, and sympathetic nerve activity at similar threshold doses (0.3 to 1 microg/kg), but raised blood pressure at a significantly lower dose (0.01 microg/kg). It is concluded that direct stimulation of ganglionic angiotensin type 1 (AT(1)) receptors arouses electrical activity in sympathetic neurons, leading to exocytotic junctional catecholamine release. In both the absence and presence of preganglionic sympathetic activity, this mechanism contributes significantly to ANG-induced enhancement of catecholamine release.

Angiotensin II↗

Adrenaline-induced K+ efflux results in sodium pump stimulation in a sympathetic ganglion.

The potassium-activated hyperpolarization (KH) was used as an index of electrogenic Na+ pumping in bullfrog sympathetic ganglia. This response was evoked by storing ganglia in K-free Ringer's solution and briefly introducing normal Ringer's solution containing 2 mM K+ at regular intervals. The apparent EC50 for K+ was 2.21 mM (range 0.88-3.54 mM, for n = 5) and at least 10 mM K+ was required to produce a maximal KH response. Adrenaline, which produces membrane hyperpolarization by increasing K+ conductance (gK), increased the amplitude of KH responses. When the K+ efflux accompanying the adrenaline-induced hyperpolarization (AdH) was blocked with 2 mM Ba2+, the KH was no longer potentiated. It is suggested that the K+ moving out of the cells during the AdH accumulates extracellularly and stimulates the Na+ pump.

Animals↗

Long-term subthreshold electrical stimulation of the left stellate ganglion and a canine model of sudden cardiac death.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to develop a high-yield canine model of sudden cardiac death (SCD). BACKGROUND: Because electrical stimulation is a powerful means to elicit nerve sprouting, we hypothesize that subthreshold electrical stimulation is more effective than nerve growth factor (NGF) infusion in inducing nerve sprouting and SCD in dogs with myocardial infarction (MI) and complete atrioventricular block (CAVB). METHODS: We gave subthreshold electrical stimulation to the left stellate ganglion (LSG) in six normal dogs for 41 +/- 9 days (protocol 1) and to six dogs with MI and CAVB for 41 +/- 29 days, while continuously monitoring their cardiac rhythm (protocol 2). We also monitored the rhythm of two dogs with MI, CAVB, and NGF infusion to the LSG and determined the ventricular nerve density in six healthy control dogs. RESULTS: In protocol 1, the hearts from dogs with LSG electrical stimulation had a higher density of nerve fibers immunopositive to tyrosine hydroxylase, synaptophysin, and growth-associated protein-43 than those of normal control dogs (p < 0.01). In protocol 2, there was a high magnitude of cardiac nerve sprouting in all dogs studied. Ventricular tachycardia > or =8 beats and > or =20 beats was more frequent in dogs with electrical stimulation than in dogs with NGF infusion to the LSG (36 +/- 60 and 11 +/- 17 vs. 4.7 +/- 6.1 and 0.1 +/- 0.33 episodes per day, p < 0.05 and p < 0.03, respectively). Four of six dogs in protocol 2 had SCD. CONCLUSIONS: Subthreshold electrical stimulation of the LSG induces cardiac nerve sprouting and sympathetic hyperinnervation and facilitates the development of a high-yield canine model of ventricular arrhythmia and SCD.

Animals↗

Nicotinic-like effects and tissue disposition of isopropylamine.

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that the acute sympathomimetic effects of isopropylamine are due to stimulation of autonomic ganglia. The present studies were designed to determine whether isopropylamine produced ganglionic blockade after its initial stimulation of autonomic ganglia. Infusion of isopropylamine (2.5 mg/kg/min) produced an initial increase in arterial pressure and heart rate which was followed by a prolonged hypotension and bradycardia; lower doses produced only a hypotensive response. After infusion of isopropylamine, the positive chronotropic responses to preganglionic cardioaccelerator nerve stimulation were significantly reduced, whereas the responses to postganglionic nerve stimulation were essentially unchanged. Similarly, the negative chronotropic responses to peripheral vagal stimulation were significantly reduced after isopropylamine administration. Moreover, isopropylamine reduced the cardiovascular responses to i.v. injections of the ganglion nicotinic stimulant, dimethylphenylpiperazinium iodide. Studies on the disposition of isopropylamine indicated that there was significant cumulation of isopropylamine in all tissues as compared to plasma. When the relationship between plasma isopropylamine and the decreases in mean arterial pressure was examined, a significant positive correlation (r = 0.87) was found. These results indicate that isopropylamine has both ganglion stimulating and blocking properties and is similar in its action to the classical nicotinic ganglion stimulant drugs such as dimethylphenylpiperazinium iodide and tetramethylammonium.

Animals↗

Organization of the tonically active pathways through the superior cervical ganglion of the rabbit.

Responses of the neurons of the rabbit superior cervical ganglion to stimulation of the fascicles of preganglionic nerve fibres dissected from the cervical sympathetic trunk, and tonic activity of these neurons were recorded with intracellular electrodes in vitro and in vivo, respectively. It was found that on average 8.5 +/- 1.2 preganglionic fibres converge on each ganglion cell. In each preparation a single input spike could be evoked in a ganglion cell by stimulation of only one of all tested fascicles. The interspike intervals for single and multiple preganglionic inputs in tonic activity of ganglion neurons displayed Gaussian and Poisson distributions, respectively. The frequencies of spikes showing a Gaussian distribution correspond in most cases to pulse and respiratory frequencies. These data suggest that (1) single input is formed by a single preganglionic fibre which evokes EPSP of an amplitude high enough to trigger a postsynaptic spike, and that (2) regular activity of the ganglion neuron triggered by single input is probably due to a regular afferent drive. A cross-correlation analysis between the intracellular tonic activity and the tonic activity simultaneously recorded from the postganglionic nerve was made. The results of the analysis were compared with those obtained when intracellular spikes were evoked by stimulation of one particular neuron. From this comparison it has been concluded that about 100 ganglion cells, on the average, discharge synchronously within the 20-ms range during their tonic activity.

Animals↗

Effect of preganglionic nerve stimulation on sensitivity of the superior cervical ganglion to nicotinic blocking agents.

1 Periodic stimulation (every 10 min) of the cervical sympathetic nerve increased the ganglionic block by low concentrations of chlorisondamine (CHL) in the superior cervical ganglion of the cat when compared to the contralateral unstimulated side.2 Periodic stimulation of the postganglionic nerve was ineffective in increasing the block.3 Ganglionic block by low concentrations of mecamylamine had the same stimulus dependency, but ganglionic block by any dose of hexamethonium was not influenced by nerve stimulation.4 Physostigmine infused together with CHL increased the rate of onset of block produced by CHL. Atropine had no apparent effect on the development of ganglionic block by CHL.5 Repeated intra-arterial injections of 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium into the circulation of the superior cervical ganglion increased the magnitude of block produced by CHL. Similar injections of methacholine had no effect on ganglionic block produced by CHL.6 The results are interpreted to indicate that activation of ganglionic nicotinic receptors increased the affinity of receptors for CHL and mecamylamine.

Animals↗

Chronic psychosocial stress-induced impairment of hippocampal LTP: possible role of BDNF.

Electrophysiological recording reveals that chronic nicotine treatment prevents stress-induced impairment of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus of anesthetized rats. We investigated the molecular mechanism of this action of nicotine in the CA1 region. Immunoblot analysis showed that chronic nicotine treatment (1 mg/kg, 2 times/day) normalized the stress-induced decrease in the basal levels of BDNF, CaMKII (total and phosphorylated; P-CaMKII), and calmodulin. Additionally, nicotine reversed the stress-induced increase in calcineurin basal levels. Chronic nicotine treatment also markedly increased the basal levels of BDNF in naïve rats. Furthermore, high-frequency stimulation (HFS), which increased the levels of P-CaMKII in control as well as nicotine-treated stressed rats, failed to increase P-CaMKII levels in untreated stressed rats. Compared to unstimulated control, the levels of both total CaMKII and calcineurin were increased after HFS in all groups including the stressed, but no changes were detected after HFS in the levels of BDNF and calmodulin. These results indicate that normalization by nicotine of the stress-induced changes in the levels of signaling molecules including BDNF may contribute to the recovery of LTP.

Animals↗

Chronic caffeine exposure in rats blocks a subsequent nicotine-conditioned taste avoidance in a one-bottle, but not a two-bottle test.

Two experiments were conducted in order to investigate nicotine-conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) following chronic preexposure to caffeine. Rats were given daily intraperitoneal injections of caffeine anhydrous (0, 10, or 30 mg/kg) for 10 or 30 days. Training of the nicotine-CTA began after the last day of caffeine preexposure. On five separate occasions access to a saccharin solution was followed immediately by an injection of 1.2 mg/kg nicotine hydrogen tartrate salt or saline. Nicotine-CTA readily developed in saline-preexposed controls. That is, paired rats drank less saccharin solution than unpaired rats after repeated saccharin-nicotine pairings. A similar pattern of nicotine-CTA was found for rats preexposed to 30 mg/kg caffeine for 10 days. Following 10 days of preexposure to 10 mg/kg caffeine, however, CTA did not develop under standard testing conditions. Thirty days of caffeine preexposure did not affect the development of a nicotine-CTA even though the anorexic effects of caffeine were evident after exposure to 30 mg/kg for this duration. Thus, caffeine exposure appears to weaken acquisition or expression of the conditioned avoidance properties of nicotine. This effect is sensitive to the dose of caffeine and duration of preexposure. Importantly, the pattern of nicotine-CTA does not appear to be due to nonspecific effects of caffeine.

Animals↗