The dorsal portion of the lumbar intervertebral disc is innervated primarily by small peptide-containing dorsal root ganglion neurons in rats.
The intervertebral discs are innervated by the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. In the present study, we applied Fluoro-Gold (FG) to the dorsal portion of the L5-L6 intervertebral disc to label DRG neurons retrogradely, and then examined whether FG-labeled neurons were substance P (SP)-immunoreactive or isolectin B4 (IB4)-binding. Of the FG-labeled neurons, 44.0% were immunoreactive for SP, whereas only 0.6% were reactive for IB4. The rate of SP-immunoreactive neurons was significantly higher than that of IB4-binding neurons (P<0.001), suggesting that under physiological conditions the dorsal portion of the lumbar disc is mainly innervated by peptide-containing neurons.
Ozawa
Tomoyuki
T
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, 260-8670, Japan.
Aoki
Yasuchika
Y
Ohtori
Seiji
S
Takahashi
Kazuhisa
K
Chiba
Tanemichi
T
Ino
Hidetoshi
H
Moriya
Hideshige
H
D000818:Animals; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000294:innervation*; D037102:Lectins; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013266:Stilbamidines; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism*
C049774:2-hydroxy-4,4'-diamidinostilbene, methanesulfonate salt; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D037102:Lectins; D013266:Stilbamidines; D013373:Substance P