title: Dorsal root activity evoked by stimulation of vagina-cervix-uterus junction in the rat.
abstract: In the present study, we characterized the evoked electrical activity from T(13) to S(2) dorsal roots (DRs) during glass probe-stimulation of the vagina-cervix-uterus junction (VCUJ) of female Wistar rats. The results showed that gentle stimulation of VCUJ evoked high-amplitude electrical activity in L(3) and L(6) DRs. Hypogastric or pelvic nerve transection failed to abolish this activity. L(6)-S(1) spinal trunk transection abolished the high-amplitude electrical activity evoked in L(6) DR, while transection of the lumbosacral trunk blocked the high-amplitude electrical activity evoked in L(3) DR. These data suggest that during copulation, penile intromission likely activates the low-threshold sensory receptors of the VCUJ, thereby evoking sensory neural activity that enters the spinal cord via L(3) and L(6) dorsal roots, whose axons travel through the lumbosacral trunk and pudendal nerve.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Luis Castelazo Ayala s/n Col. Industrial Animas, Xalapa, Veracruz, CP 91190, México. atc_06@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Anibal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lara-Garcia
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pacheco
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000294:innervation*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000502:physiology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000294:innervation*; D014621:Vagina / Q000294:innervation*