Increased number of sympathetic neurons with unchanged target organ innervation after postnatal polyamine treatment.
Treatment of newborn rats with polyamines from day 2 to day 9 after birth prevented the normal reduction in the number of sympathetic neurons in the superior cervical ganglion. About 40% more neurons prevailed in the ganglion after the polyamine treatment. This increase was paralleled by a comparable developmental increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity and a small (17%) increase in choline acetyltransferase activity in the ganglion. However, in the iris, a target organ innervated by the sympathetic neurons, tyrosine hydroxylase activity and [3H]norepinephrine uptake remained unchanged. The results indicate that the polyamine-induced increase in the number of parent neurons is not accompanied by a change in the number of functional nerve terminals in the target organ.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001339:Autonomic Fibers, Preganglionic / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development*; D007498:Iris / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D011073:Polyamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
D011073:Polyamines; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D009638:Norepinephrine