Substance P and/or calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactive neurons in dorsal root ganglia possibly involved in the transmission of nociception in rat penile frenulum.
- Author:
Zhong-Min WU
1
;
Jing-Jing NI
;
Shu-Cai LING
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Animals; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; analysis; Ganglia, Spinal; chemistry; cytology; Male; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Neurons; chemistry; physiology; Neurons, Afferent; chemistry; physiology; Penis; innervation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Substance P; analysis
- From: National Journal of Andrology 2007;13(12):1068-1071
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between substance P (SP) and/or calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) immunoreactive neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the transmission of nociception in the penile frenulum of rats.
METHODSThe fluoro-gold (FG) retrograde tracing method was used to trace the origin of nerve terminals in the penile frenulum of rats. And SP and/or CGRP immunofluorescence labeling was employed to detect the distribution of SP and/or CGRP immunoreactive neurons in DRG.
RESULTSFG retrograde tracing showed that the FG retrolabeled neurons were localized in L6-DRG and S1-DRG. SP and/or CGRP immunofluorescence labeling indicated that a large number of DRG neurons were SP- and CGRP-immunoreactive, different in size, bright red and bright green respectively in color, and arranged in rows or spots among nerve bundles. All the FG/SP and FG/CGRP double-labeled neurons were medium or small-sized. One third of the FG-labeled neurons were SP-immunoreactive, and a half of them CGRP-immunoreactive in L6-DRG and S1-DRG respectively. The FG/SP/CGRP-labeled neurons accounted for one fifth of the FG retro labeled neurons.
CONCLUSIONSP- and CGRP-immunoreactive neurons in L6-DRG and SI-DRG of rats may be involved in the transmission of nociception in rat penile frenulum.
