Friday, April 18, 2008

Substance P

Guanethidine sympathectomy increases substance P concentration in the superior sympathetic ganglion of adult rats

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

BENARROCH E. E. ; ZOLLMAN P. J. ; SCHMELZER J. D. ; NELSON D. K. ; LOW P. A. ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

Mayo clin., dep. neurology, Rochester MN 55905, ETATS-UNIS

Résumé / Abstract

Adult rats received intraperitoneal injections of guanethidine or saline for 5 weeks. Six to 8 weeks following completion of treatment, concentrations of substance P and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were measured by radioimmunoassay in the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) and thoracic spinal cord. The SCG was also immunostained for NPY and substance P. No differences were observed in thoracic spinal cord content of either NPY or substance P. We observed depletion of NPY immunoreactive neurons and NPY levels in the SCG, and pharmacologic evidence of postganglionic denervation in guanethidine-treated rats