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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 289/3/H1169    most recent 00973.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Supowit, S. C. Articles by DiPette, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Supowit, S. C. Articles by DiPette, D. J.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide and substance P contribute to reduced blood pressure in sympathectomized rats

¹Department of Medicine, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine and Scott & White Health System, Temple, Texas; ²Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas; and ³Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Submitted 21 September 2004 ; accepted in final form 4 May 2005

CGRP and substance P (SP) are produced in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons and modulate vascular tone. Sympathetic and sensory nerves compete for NGF, a potent stimulator of CGRP and SP, and it has been suggested that sympathetic hyperinnervation in spontaneously hypertensive rats may reduce the availability of NGF to sensory nerves, thus reducing CGRP and SP. The purpose of this study was to determine whether destruction of peripheral sympathetic nerves in normal rats would increase the availability of NGF for sensory neurons and enhance expression of CGRP and SP. Sympathectomy was produced in rats by guanethidine sulfate administration. Control rats received saline. Sympathectomized rats displayed reductions in blood pressure (BP) and atria norepinephrine levels, whereas NGF levels in the DRG, spleen, and ventricles were increased. Sympathectomy also enhanced CGRP and SP mRNA and peptide content in DRG. Administration of CGRP and SP receptor antagonists increased the BP in sympathectomized rats but not in the controls. Thus sympathectomy enhances sensory neuron CGRP and SP expression that contributes to the BP reduction.

guanethidine; blood pressure; peripheral nervous system; nerve growth factor