RESUMO
Electroacupuncture (EA) delivered to the acupoint (AP) called Zusanli (ST36) was administered on the bilateral hindlimb. This experiment resulted in strong expression of c-Fos immunoreactivity in the ventrolateral to lateral subdivision throughout the periaqueductal gray (PAG) compared to the non-AP and sham cases. On the other hand, it was of particular interest in the experiment of the AP that strong expression of gamma aminobutylic acid (GABA) frequently showed similar pattern of distribution to that of c-Fos in the PAG. This overlapped pattern of distribution, demonstrated in the present study, suggests that the PAG neurons activated by EA at the AP might play an important role in the descending pain control system involving the GABA since the PAG has special reference to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and function of pain control.
Assuntos
Eletroacupuntura , Neurônios/metabolismo , Substância Cinzenta Periaquedutal/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-fos/metabolismo , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/metabolismo , Pontos de Acupuntura , Animais , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Membro Posterior/inervação , Masculino , Neurônios/citologia , Dor/fisiopatologia , Substância Cinzenta Periaquedutal/citologia , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-fos/genética , Ratos , Ratos Wistar , Receptores de GABA/genética , Receptores de GABA/metabolismo , Ácido gama-Aminobutírico/genéticaRESUMO
Chronic ethanol consumption has adverse effects on the central nervous system. Hippocampus is one of the target sites of ethanol neurotoxicity. Hippocampal damage is known to result in impairment of learning and memory. This study was aimed to determine whether chronic ethanol consumption could alter the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) mRNAs in the hippocampus. Male Wistar rats were given unrestricted access to a liquid diet containing 5% (v/v) ethanol as the sole fluid source for 19 weeks beginning at 10 weeks of age. The expression levels of BDNF and GDNF mRNAs in the hippocampus were analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. The present study revealed that chronic ethanol consumption did not result in significant changes in the expression levels of BDNF and GDNF mRNAs. Our present results showed no significant alteration in the expression of these neurotrophic factors; these results will lead to further studies to examine the possible alterations in the gene expression of various neurotrophins that are related to hippocampal functions including learning and memory.