title: Spinal cord localization of the motoneurons innervating the sacrococcygeus dorsi lateralis muscle and their noradrenergic nerve terminals in rats.
abstract: We examined in the present study the spinal cord localization of motoneurons innervating the caudal portion of the sacrococcygeus dorsi lateralis (SCDL) muscle and their noradrenergic nerve terminals in Sprague-Dawley rats, using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) double-labeling techniques. Retrogradely HRP-labeled motoneurons innervating the caudal part of the SCDL muscle were located ipsilaterally in the ventromedial aspect of the ventral horn (lamina IX) in spinal segments of S2-S4. These cells were polygonal in shape, with an average soma diameter of 37.0 +/- 1.1 microns (mean +/- S.E.M., n = 95) and amounted to 33.6 +/- 5.7 (n = 7) in the horizontal plane. Of note was the presence of abundant DBH-positive nerve terminals arborizing on the soma and dendrites of HRP-labeled motoneurons. These results provided anatomical evidence to further support our previous findings that the coerulospinal noradrenergic neurotransmission is involved in the mediation of fentanyl-induced muscular rigidity.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology, National Yang-Ming Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors: P W
authors: PW
authors: Lui
authors: G J
authors: GJ
authors: Chang
authors: T Y
authors: TY
authors: Lee
authors: S H
authors: SH
authors: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000201:enzymology; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000494:pharmacology; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000294:innervation*; D009411:Nerve Endings / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; D005283:Fentanyl; D009638:Norepinephrine