c-Fos Expression in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract in Response to Salt Stimulation in Rats.
10.4196/kjpp.2011.15.6.437
- Author:
Yongho KWAK
1
;
Mee Ra RHYU
;
Sun Joon BAI
;
Young Hee SA
;
Min Jee KWON
;
Bae Hwan LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Physiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea. bhlee@yuhs.ac
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
c-Fos;
Chorda tympani nerve;
Nucleus of the solitary tract;
Salt
- MeSH:
Animals;
Axis, Cervical Vertebra;
Chorda Tympani Nerve;
Discrimination (Psychology);
Rats;
Solitary Nucleus;
Taste Perception;
Tongue;
Water
- From:The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
2011;15(6):437-443
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Salt signals in tongue are relayed to the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST). This signaling is very important to determine whether to swallow salt-related nutrition or not and suggests some implications in discrimination of salt concentration. Salt concentration-dependent electrical responses in the chorda tympani and the NST were well reported. But salt concentration-dependency and spatial distribution of c-Fos in the NST were not well established. In the present study, NaCl signaling in the NST was studied in urethane-anesthetized rats. The c-Fos immunoreactivity in the six different NST areas along the rostral-caudal axis and six subregions in each of bilateral NST were compared between applications of distilled water and different concentrations of NaCl to the tongue of experimental animals. From this study, salt stimulation with high concentration (1.0 M NaCl) induced significantly higher c-Fos expression in intermediate NST and dorsal-medial and dorsal-middle subregions of the NST compared to distilled water stimulation. The result represents the specific spatial distribution of salt taste perception in the NST.
