title: Long-term alterations in peripheral taste responses to NaCl in adult rats following neonatal chorda tympani transection.
abstract: The peripheral taste system of the adult rodent is highly resilient against damage, with morphological, behavioral, and functional recovery evident after regeneration of a transected nerve. If chorda tympani transection (CTX) occurs at early postnatal ages however, the nerve fails to regenerate and effects on tongue morphology and behavior are more severe and longer-lasting compared to adult denervation. To examine whether neonatal CTX induces functional changes in intact nerves, whole-nerve electrophysiology was performed on the glossopharyngeal (GL) and chorda tympani (CT) nerves of adult rats that received CTX at P10. Attenuation of NaCl-elicited GL responses were observed in CTX rats 2 months after surgery, with bilateral denervation causing the largest decreases in responses. When assessed 1 year after neonatal CTX, amiloride-sensitive responses to NaCl in the contralateral CT increased while amiloride-insensitive responses decreased. Responses to other tastants were consistent with control animals. This is the first evidence of long-term functional changes to the peripheral taste system after injury in rats fed a normal diet. This study further characterizes the developing peripheral taste system as highly susceptible to change following neural injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.
authors.forename: Louis J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA ssollars@unomaha.edu.
authors.forename: Suzanne I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Sollars
mesh_terms: D000643:Ammonium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002814:Chorda Tympani Nerve / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D003714:Denervation; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005930:Glossopharyngeal Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000643:Ammonium Chloride; D012965:Sodium Chloride
keywords: amiloride-insensitive; ammonium chloride (NH4Cl); development; glossopharyngeal nerve; plasticity; whole-nerve electrophysiology