Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of aging and diabetes mellitus (DM) on brain nitric oxide synthase (bNOS) expression in major pelvic ganglia (MPG) of rats. Otsuka Long Evans Tokushima Fatty rats (12, 30, and 70 weeks old), which are genetic models with non-insulin-dependent DM (NIDDM), and age-matched nondiabetic Long Evans Tokushima Otsuka controls were used. The MPG of all rats in this study were subjected to cryo-sectioning and staining with bNOS polyclonal AB and rhodamine-conjugated rabbit IgG. Fluorescence intensities of the stained neurons were assessed in randomly selected fields per each specimen. Animals of both groups revealed significant decline in the staining intensity of their neurons with aging and the progress of DM, but diabetic rats showed more decline than controls. In conclusion, both aging and NIDDM could decrease bNOS expression in rat MPG. However, NIDDM has a more evident effect than aging on that expression. The decrease in bNOS may cause a disturbance in functions of the target pelvic structures of these ganglia under both conditions.
Published Version
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