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Differences between two inbred rat strains in the number of pH sensitive K+_ channel‐immunoreactive neurons in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS)
Author(s) -
Martino Paul Frank,
Olesiak S,
Batuuka D,
Riley D,
Neumueller S,
Marshall B,
Qian B,
Hodges M R,
Forster H V
Publication year - 2011
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.25.1_supplement.847.10
Ventilatory sensitivity to hypercapnia is greater in Dahl salt‐sensitive (SS) rats than in Brown Norway (BN) inbred rats. Since pH‐sensitive potassium ion (K+) channels are located within various chemosensitive nuclei including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), and are postulated to contribute to the sensing and signaling of changes in CO2‐H+ in chemosensitive neurons, we tested the hypothesis that there are more pH‐sensitive K+ channel‐immunoreactive (ir) neurons within the NTS of SS than within the NTS of BN rats. The medullary sections (25 μm) containing the NTS from male and female BN and SS rats were stained with cresyl violet or with antibodies targeting TASK‐1and Kir2.3 channels. K+ channel‐ir neurons were quantified and compared with the total neurons in the region. We found that the average number of neurons in the NTS was greater in female BN rats than in all other groups. The average number of K+ channel‐ir neurons per section was generally 10–40 neurons greater in both male and female SS than in the BN rats. In addition, the percentage of total neurons that express TASK‐1 and Kir2.3 was higher (~5%) in SS than the BN rats. Our findings support the hypothesis that a greater number of K+ channel‐ir neurons in the NTS of SS may contribute to their relatively greater sensitivity to CO 2 . (Supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs and NIH HL25739)