Botulinum toxin type A does not affect spontaneous discharge but blocks sympathetic-sensory coupling in chronically compressed rat dorsal root ganglion neurons / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) on spontaneous discharge and sympathetic- sensory coupling in chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In chronically compressed rat DRG, spontaneous activities of the single fibers from DRG neurons were recorded and their changes observed after BTAX application on the damaged DGR. Sympathetic modulation of the spontaneous discharge from the compressed DRG neurons was observed by electric stimulation of the lumbar sympathetic trunk, and the changes in this effect were evaluated after intravenous BTXA injection in the rats.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Active spontaneous discharges were recorded in the injured DRG neurons, and 47 injured DRG neurons responded to Ca2+-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid but not to BTXA treatment. Sixty-four percent of the neurons in the injured DRG responded to sympathetic stimulation, and this response was blocked by intravenously injection of BTXA.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BTXA does not affect spontaneous activities of injured DRG neurons, but blocks sympathetic-sensory coupling in these neurons.</p>

The sensitivity of neurons with non-periodic activity to sympathetic stimulation in rat injured dorsal root ganglion / 神经科学通报·英文版

Objective The relationship between firing pattern and sensitivity of neurons was studied in chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and the Hindmarsh-Rose (HR) neuronal model. Methods Spontaneous activities from single fibers of chronically compressed DRG neurons in rats were recorded, and divided into periodic and non-periodic firing patterns. The sensitivity of the two kinds of firing pattern neuron to sympathetic stimulation (SS) was compared. Result It was found that 27.3% of periodic firing neurons and 93.2% of non-periodic firing neurons responded to SS respectively (periodic vs non-periodic, P < 0.01). The responses to SS with different stimulation time were greater non-periodic firing neurons than periodic firing neurons (P < 0.01). The non-periodic firing neurons obviously responded to SS. After the firing pattern of these neurons transformed to periodic firing pattern, their responses to SS disappeared or decreased obviously. The HR neuronal model exhibited a significantly greater response to perturbation in non-periodic (chaotic) firing pattern than in periodic firing pattern. Conclusion The non-periodic firing neurons with deterministic chaos are more sensitive to external stimuli than the periodic firing neurons.

Different firing patterns induced by veratridine and aconitine in injured dorsal root ganglion neurons / 生理学报

Ectopic spontaneous activity originated from the injured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in rats was recorded through single dorsal root fiber. The firing patterns induced by veratridine and aconitine, inhibitors of inactivation gate of sodium channel operating on different binding sites, were compared. In the same neuron, veratridine (1.5 approximately 5.0 micromol/L) caused slow wave oscillations of interspike intervals (ISIs), while aconitine (10 approximately 200 micromol/L) caused tonic firing. Moreover, even if the background firing patterns were various and the reagent concentrations used were different, veratridine and aconitine still induced slow wave oscillations and tonic firing patterns, respectively. The results suggest that veratridine and aconitine induce different firing patterns in injured DRG neurons, which may relate to their inhibitory effects on different binding sites of the sodium channel.

Three types of induced bursting rhythm in rat injured nerves / 生理学报

Firing patterns of injured nerve fibers were recorded using the single-fiber firing recording technique. Under the same background firing pattern, three types of bursting were induced separately by EGTA, veratridine or high [Ca(2+)](o) in the same type of nerve fibers. The results suggest that different firing patterns are related to different stimuli, which means that each firing pattern carries corresponding neural information.

Triggered oscillations in type A dorsal root ganglion neurons induced by veratridine / 生理学报

Veratridine, a blocker of inactive gate of sodium channel, was used to perfuse L5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) topically. Afferent activities of type A single fiber from these DRGs were recorded. It was found that after a 10-min bath of veratridine (1.8-3 micromol/L), some of the primary silent DRG neurons were triggered by touch or pressure on the receptive fields or by electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve to produce high-frequency firing, which was termed triggered oscillation presenting a U-type of interspike intervals (ISI) or other types of oscillations. The longer the intervals between stimulating pulses, the more stimulating pulses were needed to trigger the oscillation. The oscillation, triggered by electric stimuli with different duration or patterns, had no significant difference in their patterns. The duration of the inhibitory period after a triggered oscillation was generally 30-90 s. It was also observed that this kind of triggered oscillation was induced by afferent pulses of the same neurons. These results suggest that triggered oscillation, which may contribute to the fit of triggered pain, can be produced in primary sensory neurons after application of veratridine.