Effects of the drug balis-2 on the growth of sympathetic ganglia from different strains of rat in culture

Abstract

The growth-promoting properties of balis-2, produced by microbiological synthesis, were investigated in organotypic cultures of upper cervical ganglia from newborn Wistar, Wag, and August rats. Maximum size of the growth zone was calculated, as well as the density of neurite-glial bundles and numbers of catecholamine-containing fibers within this zone. It was found that ganglia cultures from Wistar and Wag strains grow at 2.0–2.1 times the rate of those from the August strain. Balis-2 exerts an activating action at concentrations of 0.001 and 0.0001%, mainly affecting neurite growth. Level of response was found to vary from one strain to the next: peak response, at 2.3–2.6 times control level was recorded in rats of the August strain, while growth in ganglia culture increased 1.8–2.0-fold against the controls in the remaining two strains under the effects of this substance. In this way it was first shown that balis-2 has neurotrophic properties when used on sympathetic ganglia in culture. In view of the fact that rats belonging to the August strain have a high level of plasma catecholamines and are classified as an emotional species according to their reaction to stress, the subject of how processes of nerve tissue regeneration connect up with the state of the sympathoadrenal system is discussed.