Heat generation associated with synaptic transmission in the mammalian superior cervical ganglion.
By use of a thermal detector constructed with a thin polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF), heat production in the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) of the guinea pig was examined. A single electric shock applied to the preganglionic nerve evokes a temperature rise of approximately 1.5 x 10(-6) deg. The thermal responses summate when the preganglionic nerve is stimulated repetitively. The amplitude of the thermal response is increased when the preparation is treated with a high Ca2+ medium. Treatment with agents that block ganglionic transmission (high Mg2+, d-tubocurarine, hexamethonium, TTX) reversibly suppresses thermal response. It is thus concluded that the thermal responses described in this paper are generated by the physico-chemical events underlying postsynaptic electrogenesis in the SCG cells.
Kusano
K
K
Laboratory of Neurochemistry, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Tasaki
I
I
D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D018738:Hexamethonium; D006584:Hexamethonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D014403:Tubocurarine / Q000494:pharmacology
D006584:Hexamethonium Compounds; D018738:Hexamethonium; D014403:Tubocurarine