Brainstem derived noradrenaline (NA) in the spinal cord functions both to increase motoneuron excitability, by facilitating calcium-mediated persistent inward currents (Ca PICs), and to inhibit sensory afferent transmission to motoneurons (excitatory postsynaptic potentials; EPSPs). Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a reduction of NA, causing a loss of Ca PICs in motoneurons below the lesion and exaggerated EPSPs to emerge. With time motoneuron Ca PICs gradually recover and are readily triggered by the exaggerated EPSPs, resulting in the development of muscle spasms. The role of the NA in the recovery of Ca PICs and muscle spasms after chronic SCI is examined in this thesis using a rat model of spasticity incorporating both the awake rat (in vivo) and the isolated rat spinal cord (in vitro). Specific activation of the adrenergic 1 receptor with agonists facilitated Ca PIC and spasms, whereas activation of the adrenergic 2 receptor with agonists decreased the EPSPs that trigger spasms. Both receptors were endogenously activated by a ligand in vivo, though the 1 receptor additionally exhibits constitutive activity (activity in the absence of NA), predominantly in vitro. The adrenergic 2 receptor was not found to be endogenously active in vitro. Use of amphetamine in rats, which causes a forced efflux of endogenous NA, confirmed the identity of the endogenous ligand as NA and demonstrated that a residual source of NA capable of facilitating the Ca PIC and spasms persists below a chronic transection. Immunohistochemical labelling for an enzyme involved in the synthesis of NA (dopamine--hydroxylase) revealed that NA is not synthesized in the spinal cord below a chronic transection, indicating that the endogenous NA is not intrinsic to the spinal cord. Peripheral injections of NA were used to demonstrate that the residual NA instead originates in the periphery (blood) and is both passively and actively transported across a compromised blood-brain barrier (BBB) after chronic injury. The peripherally derived NA activates central adrenergic receptors to modulate motoneuron excitability, sensory synaptic transmission and muscle spasms after chronic SCI. This novel finding highlights the importance of understanding the adaptations of neurotransmitter systems after injury when developing effective treatment strategies for spasticity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/1625 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Rank, Michelle Maria |
| Contributors | Gorassini, Monica A. (Biomedical Engineering), Bennett, David J. (Rehabilitation Medicine), Funk, Gregory D. (Physiology), Stein, Richard B. (Physiology), Baker, Glen (Psychiatry), Whelan, Patrick (University of Calgary) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1926159 bytes, application/pdf |
| Relation | Rank MM, Li X, Bennett DJ, and Gorassini MA. Role of endogenous release of norepinephrine in muscle spasms after chronic spinal cord injury. J Neurophysiol 97: 3166-3180, 2007., Rank MM, Murray KC, Stephens MJ, DAmico J, Gorassini MA, and Bennett DJ. Adrenergic receptors modulate motoneuron excitability, synaptic transmission and muscle spasms after chronic spinal cord injury, J. Neurophysiol.; Nov 3, 2010. |
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