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Nerve growth factor expression and innervation in arteries and veins with involuntary exercise
Author(s) -
Ousley Dominique D.,
Sharma Shailja P.,
Spitsbergen John M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.a935-b
Subject(s) - nerve growth factor , blood pressure , medicine , endocrinology , sensory system , blood vessel , sensory nerve , norepinephrine , anatomy , biology , neuroscience , receptor , dopamine
Sympathetic and sensory neurons innervate blood vessels and control blood pressure. Sympathetic and sensory neurons have been shown to respond to nerve growth factor (NGF). We have shown that NGF content significantly decreases in arteries and veins from rats between 1 and 7 months of age. As the rats aged there was more sympathetic innervation in blood vessels, while sensory innervation stayed the same or decreased. The present study examines involuntary exercise and the effects it plays on vessel innervation and hypertension. Four mouth old Fisher 344 rats were exercise for two weeks at 10m/min for 30 minutes/day. Blood pressures were measured using tail cuff plethysmography. Rats were sacrificed 24 hr following the last bout of exercise. Arteries and veins were removed and were processed for NGF analysis by ELISA, or were fixed and processed for immunochemical staining. Following 2 weeks of exercise the blood pressure in exercised rats (128±2.3 mmHg) was significantly lower than that in sedentary controls (137±3.5). We are currently processing vascular tissues for NGF content and changes in innervation. If NGF expression changes with exercise, this could provide a mechanism linking increased physical activity with changes in sympathetic and/or sensory innervation. This work was supported by NIH grant 1 R15 AG022908‐01A2, Western Michigan University, and MSU‐KCMS.