Development of a decerebrate model for investigating mechanisms mediating viscero-sympathetic reflexes in the spinalized rat.

Development of a decerebrate model for investigating mechanisms mediating viscero-sympathetic reflexes in the spinalized rat. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2019 Mar 15;: Authors: Reynolds C, O'Leary DS, Ly C, Smith SA, Minic Z Abstract Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) often occurs in individuals living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and is characterized by uncontrolled hypertension in response to otherwise innocuous stimuli originating below the level of the spinal lesion. Visceral stimulation is a predominate cause of AD in humans, and effectively replicates the phenotype in rodent models of SCI. Direct assessment of sympathetic responses to viscerosensory stimulation in spinalized animals is challenging and requires invasive surgical procedures necessitating the use of anesthesia. However, administration of anesthesia markedly affects viscerosensory reactivity and the effects are exacerbated following spinal cord injury (SCI). Therefore, the major goal of the present study was to develop a decerebrate rodent preparation to facilitate quantification of sympathetic responses to visceral stimulation in the spinalized rat. Such a preparation enables the confounding effect of anesthesia to be eliminated. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to SCI at the 4th thoracic segment. Four weeks later, renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) responses to visceral stimuli were quantified in urethane/chloralose anesthetized and decerebrate preparations....
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol Source Type: research