title: Nitric oxide mediates ongoing discharges in dorsal root ganglion cells after peripheral nerve injury.
abstract: 1. We have examined the effect of intravenously injected nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, on the ongoing discharges originating in dorsal root ganglia in rats. 2. Ongoing activity was recorded from dorsal rootlets that were responsive to electrical stimulation of the axotomized sciatic nerve. Resection of the nerve proximal to the neuroma did not appreciably influence the rate of ongoing activity. Intravenous L-NAME (100 and 200 mumol/kg) suppressed ongoing activity both when the neuroma was intact or acutely resected. The effect of L-NAME was reversed by L-arginine (575 and 1,150 mumol/kg). 3. L-NAME had no effect on ongoing activity recorded from dorsal rootlets in normal rats or rootlets with no sciatic input in axotomized rats. 4. No ongoing activity could be recorded from sciatic nerve filaments that had been sectioned proximally before the recording in axotomized rats, although a response could be elicited by mechanical stimulation of the neuroma. 5. Because peripheral axotomy has been shown to markedly increase the level of mRNA for NO synthase in dorsal root ganglion cells, the present results indicate that NO may be involved in the generation of spontaneous discharges in deafferentated dorsal root ganglia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wiesenfeld-Hallin
authors.forename: J X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: X J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hökfelt
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D001120:Arginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester