Phosphorylation of spinal signaling-regulated kinases by acute uterine cervical distension in rats

International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia
L Z WangX Y Chang

Abstract

Spinal extracellular signaling-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK 1/2) have been found to contribute to nociceptive processing, but the role of spinal ERK 1/2 in visceral pain related to the uterine cervix, the source of pain during the first stage of labor, is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate ERK activation (phosphorylation) in spinal dorsal horn neurons after acute uterine cervical distension. Under intraperitoneal anesthesia using chloral hydrate 300 mg/kg, female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a 10-s uterine cervical distension of 25, 50, 75, and 100g or no distension (sham). The electromyographic response in the rectus abdominis muscle and mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate changes to uterine cervical distension were determined. The numbers of phosphorylated-ERK 1/2- immunoreactive (pERK 1/2-IR) dorsal horn neurons in cervical (C5-8), thoracic (T5-8), thoracolumbar (T12-L2) and lumbosacral (L(6)-S(1)) segments were counted using immunohistochemistry. Compared with the non-distended sham rats, uterine cervical distension resulted in a stimulus-dependent increase in electromyographic activity and the number of pERK-IR neurons that selectively located to the thoracolumbar segment, mostly in the deep ...Continue Reading

References

Mar 1, 1995·Trends in Biochemical Sciences·E Cano, L C Mahadevan
Oct 3, 2002·Anesthesiology·Andreas Sandner-Kiesling, James C Eisenach
Feb 26, 2005·Anesthesiology·Lawrence C Tsen

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Citations

Feb 25, 2015·Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry·Gisela BorgesFani Neto

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