Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 274, Issue 1, 15 October 1999, Pages 41-44
Neuroscience Letters

Decline in spontaneous activity of group Aαβ sensory afferents after sciatic nerve axotomy in rat

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(99)00667-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Changes are observed in the strength of central synaptic transmission and the firing behavior of primary afferents damaged by peripheral nerve injury. To clarify the relationship between synaptic strength and amount of spontaneous activity, firing behavior was studied in adult, male Sprague–Dawley rats in which sciatic nerve afferents were axotomized. Intra-axonal recordings were taken from Aαβafferents within 7 h (acute, n=309), at 3 days (n=228), or at 10 days (n=230) after sciatic nerve cut. The proportion of spontaneously discharging afferents fell from 22% in the acute group to ≤13% in chronic groups. Thus, neither the progressive decline in the strength of central synaptic transmission from cut primary afferents nor the altered sensation observed after nerve cut can be explained by chronic changes in spontaneous activity of cut Aα/Aβ afferents.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Ms. Valerie Haftel and Mr. Jon Prather for their technical assistance and Dr. Jin Mo Chung for valuable comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grant RO1 NS31563. This study was completed in partial fulfillment of degree requirements.

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