Abstract
Dorsal root potentials before and after adding vasopressin or oxytocin to the perfusing fluid were investigated during experiments on one or two perfused spinal cord segments isolated from 12- to 16-day-old rats. It was found that both neuropeptides reversibly inhibited the amplitude of dorsal root potentials produced by stimulating the adjoining dorsal root. The effect was dependent on concentration and time of peptide action on the brain. Both vasopressin and oxytocin were found to produce slow, reversible, dose-dependent depolarization at primary afferent fiber terminals. Depolarization persists when trans-synaptic transmission has been completely blocked owing to substitution of calcium by manganese ions in the perfusing solution. Synaptic contacts are thought to exist between peptidergic hypothalamospinal fibers and dorsal root afferent fiber terminals. The functional significance of these connections is discussed.
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