[Expressional change of nitric oxide synthases in dorsal root ganglia of cats after selective dorsal rhizotomy].
OBJECTIVE
To examine the expressional change of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the injured dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the ipsilateral adjacent uninjured DRG after selective dorsal rhizotomy.


METHODS
Immunochemical ABC method was used to detect the distribution of immunoreaction complex of NOS isoforms--nNOS and eNOS, and quantitative analysis was conducted to get the number of nNOS-immunoreactivity (nNOS-IR) neurons in normal DRG, dorsal rhizotomized DRG and spared DRG from adult cats on the 6th day after operation. This operating model was made by rhizotomizing unilateral L1-L5 dorsal roots and leaving L6 as a spared root.


RESULTS
nNOS-immunoreactants were mainly distributed in the small-sized neurons in the DRG of cat. The percentage of nNOS-expressing small-sized neurons increased in the deafferentated L5 DRG (29.74%) when compared with the contralateral DRG (19.35%), and it also increased in the spared DRG (24.22%), compared with the contralateral DRG (18.61%). eNOS-IR was not observed in the DRG of adult cats.


CONCLUSIONS
nNOS/NO up-regulated in DRG neurons is involved in a wide variety of biological functions under physiological and lesion-induced pathophysiological conditions in nerve system.
Department of Histology, Embryology and Neurobiology, West China School of Preclinical and Foresic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Hua-li
HL
Qin
Xue
X
Zhou
Wei
W
Zhang
Si-xiu
SX
Chen
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; D019051:Rhizotomy; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000201:enzymology / Q000601:surgery
D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I