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Spinal cord injury (SCI) in men is commonly associated with sexual dysfunction, including anejaculation, and chronic mid-thoracic contusion injury in male rats also impairs ejaculatory reflexes. Ejaculation is controlled by a spinal ejaculation generator consisting of a population of lumbar spinothalamic (LSt) neurons that control ejaculation through release of four neuropeptides including galanin and gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) onto lumbar and sacral autonomic and motor nuclei. It was recently demonstrated that spinal contusion injury in male rats caused reduction of GRP-immunoreactivity, but not galanin-immunoreactivity in LSt cells, indicative of reduced GRP peptide levels, but inconclusive results for galanin. The current study further tests the hypothesis that contusion injury causes a disruption of  GRP  and  galanin  mRNA in LSt cells. Male rats received mid-thoracic contusion injury and  galanin  and  GRP  mRNA were visualized 8 weeks later in the lumbar spinal cord using fluorescent  in situ  hybridization. Spinal cord injury significantly reduced  GRP  and  galanin  mRNA in LSt cells.  Galanin  expression was higher in LSt cells compared to  GRP . However, expression of the two transcripts were positively correlated in LSt cells in both sham and SCI animals, suggesting that expression for the two neuropeptides may be co-regulated. Immunofluorescent visualization of galanin and GRP peptides demonstrated a significant reduction in GRP-immunoreactivity, but not galanin in LSt cells, confirming the previous observations. In conclusion, SCI reduced  GRP  and  galanin  expression in LSt cells with an apparent greater impact on GRP peptide levels. GRP and galanin are both essential for triggering ejaculation and thus such reduction may contribute to ejaculatory dysfunction following SCI in rats.

Spinal Cord Injury Causes Reduction of Galanin and Gastrin Releasing Peptide mRNA Expression in the Spinal Ejaculation Generator of Male Rats