颈动脉窦区注入枸橼酸钠抑制家兔呼吸的机制

向颈总动脉头端注入枸橼酸钠能使大多数家兔发生呼气性呼吸暂停和呼吸频率变慢。此呼吸抑制效应可被地卡因麻醉颈动脉窦区所消除。切断窦神经不能阻断枸橼酸钠对呼吸的抑制。切断迷走神经窦支则使半数以上家兔的呼吸抑制减弱或消失,而在结状神经节上方切断迷走神经能阻断大多数家兔的呼吸抑制。结果提示,迷走神经窦支是颈动脉窦区感受器传入通路之一,向颈动脉窦区注入枸橼酸钠对呼吸的抑制主要是通过迷走神经传入引起的。     

刺激家兔腹部迷走神经外周端降压效应中枢机制的研究

应用电解损毁和脑室内注射药物的方法研究了刺激家兔腹部迷走神经外周端所致降压效应的中枢机制。结果表明:1.电刺激延脑闩部尾侧1.5—2mm、中线旁开0.25mm、深1—2mm 处主要引起降压反应。2.电解损毁该部位可以使刺激腹部迷走神经外周端所引起的降压效应显著减弱(n=20,P<0.001),但对刺激减压神经所致降压反应无影响。3.在延脑闩部水平电解损毁减压神经纤维在孤束核的主要投射区可以使刺激减压神经所致降压反应显著减弱,而对刺激腹部迷走神经外周端所致降压反应无影响。4.第四脑室注射5,6-双羟色胺的动物较之注射人工脑脊液的动物颈、胸髓5-羟色胺含量明显降低、动物动脉压增高、心率明显增快、刺激减压神经所致降压反应未见减弱,而刺激腹部迷走神经外周端所致降压反应却明显减小。因此,我们认为家兔腹部迷走神经外周端所致降压效应依赖于延脑闩下部的中缝隐核及连合核等结构,而与减压神经的投射部位无关。延脑中缝核至脊髓的下行性5-HT能神经纤维抑制脊髓交感节前神经元的活动,是这个降压效应的中枢机制之一。     

迷走神经与乙酰胆碱对缩窄的犬冠状动脉节段阻力的影响

在麻醉开胸犬,用电起搏维持心率恒定,研究了电刺激颈迷走神经(VNS)及冠状动脉内注入乙酰胆碱(ACh)对缩窄的冠状动脉的节段阻力及血流量的影响。在左旋支主干造成不同程度的冠状动脉缩窄。分别测定左旋支血流量(CBF_(cx))、主动脉压和主旋支远端冠状动脉压,记录心电图。实验发现,在冠状动脉临界狭窄和重度狭窄时,VNS 或冠脉给ACh 引起心外膜大冠状动脉阻力及冠状动脉主旋支总阻力增大,CBF_(cx)减少;随着缩窄程度加重,这些改变也愈明显,然而,心肌内小冠状动脉阻力却无显著改变。     

A Highly Sensitive Enzyme Immunoassay for Mouse β Nerve Growth Factor

Abstract: A sensitive two-site enzyme immunoassay system for mouse β nerve growth factor (NGF) was developed, based on the sandwiching of the antigen between anti-mouse β NGF antibody IgG coated to a polystyrene tube and anti-mouse β NGF antibody Fab'-linked β- d -galactosidase (β- d -galactoside hydrolase, EC 3.2.1.23). This method has the following advantages: (a) the procedures are simple and rapid compared to bioassay or two-site radioimmunoassay; (b) antibody Fab'-β- d -galactosidase complex is more stable than ¹²⁵I-labeled antibody; (c) purified β NGF is detectable at a concentration as low as 10 pg/ml. Our enzyme immunoassay was used to examine the levels of NGF in some tissues of mice. The submaxillary gland contained a high concentration of NGF. However, other tissues, such as the heart, brain, and skeletal muscle, and serum did not contain detectable NGF. These results support recent findings by other investigators that NGF was not found in the organs/tissues other than the submaxillary gland of mice.     

Substance P and enkephalin in transected axons of medulla and spinal cord

The accumulation of transported materials in cut axons is demonstrated by the light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical localization of substance P and enkephalin in the caudal medulla and cervical spinal cord of adult rat. Two days following unilateral knife-cuts in the caudal medulla or spinal (C2-C3) levels, substance P and enkephalin-like immunoreactivity (SPLI and ELI) are detected in lesioned axons located rostral and caudal to the transection. Rostrally, SPLI and ELI are detected in the lateral reticular region and ventrolateral fasciculus corresponding to the location of previously identified bulbospinal pathways. Caudally, previously unidentified, propriospinal pathways showing SPLI are detected in the dorsal columns and in the dorsolateral fasciculus. In contrast, ELI is found caudal to the transection only in the reticular region of the medulla. For both peptides, immunoreactivity is present throughout axons containing numerous large, dense core, and small clear vesicles. These results support the concept of both particulate and soluble modes of transport for substance P and enkephalin within axons of the central nervous system.     

Regulation of UDP-Galactose:Ceramide Galactosyltransferase and UDP-Glucose:Ceramide Glucosyltransferase After Crush and Transection Nerve Injury

The enzyme activities of ceramide galactosyltransferase and ceramide glucosyltransferase were assayed as a function of time (0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days) after crush injury or permanent transection of the adult rat sciatic nerve. These experimental models of neuropathy are characterized by the presence and absence of axonal regeneration and subsequent myelin assembly. Within the first 4 days after both injuries, a 50% reduction of ceramide galactosyltransferase-specific activity was observed compared to values found in the normal adult nerve. This activity remained unchanged at 7 days after injury; however, by 14 days the ceramide galactosyltransferase activity diverged in the two models. The activity increased in the crushed nerve and reached control values by 21 days, whereas a further decrease was observed in the transected nerve such that the activity was nearly immeasurable by 35 days. In contrast, the ceramide glucosyltransferase activity showed a rapid increase between 1 and 4 days, followed by a plateau that was 3.4-fold greater than that in the normal adult nerve, which persisted throughout the observation period in both the crush and transection models. [3H]Galactose precursor incorporation studies at 7, 14, 21, and 35 days after injury confirmed the previously observed shift in biosynthesis from the galactocerebrosides during myelin assembly in the crush model to the glucocerebrosides and oligohexosylceramide homologues in the absence of myelin assembly in the transection model. The transected nerves were characterized by a peak of biosynthesis of the glucocerebrosides at 14 days. Of particular interest is the biosynthesis of the glucocerebrosides and the oligohexosylceramides at 7 and 14 days after crush injury.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mechanisms of Injury-Induced Calcium Entry into Peripheral Nerve Myelinated Axons: Role of Reverse Sodium-Calcium Exchange

Abstract: To investigate the route of axonal Ca²⁺ entry during anoxia, electron probe x-ray microanalysis was used to measure elemental composition of anoxic tibial nerve myelinated axons after in vitro experimental procedures that modify transaxolemmal Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ movements. Perfusion of nerve segments with zero-Na⁺/Li⁺-substituted medium and Na⁺ channel blockade by tetrodotoxin (1 µM) prevented anoxia-induced increases in Na and Ca concentrations of axoplasm and mitochondria. Incubation with a zero-Ca²⁺/EGTA perfusate impeded axonal and mitochondrial Ca accumulation during anoxia but did not affect characteristic Na and K responses. Inhibition of Na⁺-Ca²⁺ exchange with bepridil (50 µM) reduced significantly the Ca content of anoxic axons although mitochondrial Ca remained at anoxic levels. Nifedipine (10 µM), an L-type Ca²⁺ channel blocker, did not alter anoxia-induced changes in axonal Na, Ca, and K. Exposure of normoxic control nerves to tetrodotoxin, bepridil, or nifedipine did not affect axonal elemental composition, whereas both zero-Ca²⁺ and zero-Na⁺ solutions altered normal elemental content characteristically and significantly. The findings of this study suggest that during anoxia, Na⁺ enters axons via voltage-gated Na⁺ channels and that subsequent increases in axoplasmic Na⁺ are coupled functionally to extraaxonal Ca²⁺ import. Intracellular Na⁺-dependent, extraaxonal Ca²⁺ entry is consistent with reverse operation of the axolemmal Na⁺-Ca²⁺ exchanger, and we suggest that this mode of Ca²⁺ influx plays a general role in peripheral nerve axon injury.     

Neurotrophin-4: The odd one out in the neurotrophin family

Neurotrophin-4 (NT-4) is a member of a family of neurotrophic factors, the neurotrophins, that control survival and differentiation of vertebrate neurons (2–4). Besides being the most recently discovered neurotrophin in mammals, and the least well understood, several aspects distinguish NT-4 from other members of the neurotrophin family. It is the most divergent member and, in contrast to the other neurotrophins, its expression is ubiquitous and appears to be less influenced by environmental signals. NT-4 seems to have the unique requirement of binding to the lowaffinity neurotrophin receptor (p75^LNGFR) for efficient signalling and retrograde transport in neurons. Moreover, while all other neurotrophin knock-outs have proven lethal during early postnatal development, mice deficient in NT-4 have so far only shown minor cellular deficits and develop normally to adulthood. Is NT-4 a recent addition to the neurotrophic factor repertoire in search of a crucial function, or is it an evolutionary relic, a kind of wisdom tooth of the neurotrophin family?