title: Serotonergic response to spinal distraction trauma in experimental scoliosis.
abstract: The effects of distraction injury to the spinal cord on serotonin (5HT) content and metabolism in a rat model of scoliosis were studied. Previous studies in this laboratory (Salzman et al., 1987a) have identified the 5HT response as a major component of the posttraumatic progression of spinal injury after impact trauma in the rabbit. The present study was designed to determine the universality of this response by examining a different model of injury in a different species. The results demonstrate that distraction trauma in the rat, like impact injury in the rabbit, is associated with a rapid and robust increase in the local spinal cord content and metabolism of 5HT and a long-term depletion of 5HT below the site of injury. The roles of the blood platelet and the raphe-spinal tract in the acute response and the disruption of axoplasmic transport during the chronic phase of injury are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Alfred I. duPont Institute of the Nemours Foundation, Wilmington, Delaware.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Salzman
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mendez
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Dabney
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Daley
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: el-Tantawi
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Beckman
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Bunnell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid