ORGANIZATION OF THE SEROTONERGIC INNERVATION OF SPINAL NEURONS IN RATS .3. DIFFERENTIAL SEROTONERGIC INNERVATION OF SOMATIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC PREGANGLIONIC MOTONEURONS AS DETERMINED BY PATTERNS OF COEXISTINGPEPTIDES
W. Wu et al., ORGANIZATION OF THE SEROTONERGIC INNERVATION OF SPINAL NEURONS IN RATS .3. DIFFERENTIAL SEROTONERGIC INNERVATION OF SOMATIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC PREGANGLIONIC MOTONEURONS AS DETERMINED BY PATTERNS OF COEXISTINGPEPTIDES, Neuroscience, 55(1), 1993, pp. 223-233
The spinal cord is innervated by brainstem serotonergic neurons, some
of which contain substance P and/or thyrotropin-releasing hormone in a
ddition to serotonin. These neurons project at least three types of ax
ons to the spinal cord: those containing both substance P and thyrotro
pin-releasing hormone, those containing thyrotropin-releasing hormone
but not substance P, and those containing neither substance P nor thyr
otropin-releasing hormone. However, the organization of the different
types of serotonergic processes is unclear. In the present studies, th
e types of serotonergic axons projecting to two kinds of spinal neuron
s were examined. Somatic and parasympathetic preganglionic motoneurons
were labeled retrogradely from the pelvic or sciatic nerve, respectiv
ely. Sections containing these neurons were stained either for seroton
in and substance P, or for serotonin and thyrotropin-releasing hormone
. Of a total of 428 profiles examined that were retrogradely labeled f
rom the sciatic nerve, 425 (99%) were apposed by serotonin-immunoreact
ive varicosities; similarly, of a total of 382 profiles examined that
were retrogradely labeled from pelvic nerve, 353 (92%) were apposed by
serotonin-immunoreactive varicosities. However, differences appeared
to exist between the types of serotonergic varicosities innervating th
ese two groups of neurons. Among the profiles labeled from the sciatic
nerve, it was estimated that over 97% were apposed by serotonin-immun
oreactive varicosities in which serotonin co-existed with substance P
and thyrotropin-releasing hormone. In contrast, among the profiles lab
eled from pelvic nerve that were apposed by serotonin-immunoreactive v
aricosities, it was estimated that less than 1% were apposed by seroto
nin-immunoreactive varicosities containing both thyrotropin-releasing
hormone and substance P. We estimate that most of the remainder (about
80%) were apposed by serotonin-immunoreactive varicosities containing
thyrotropin-releasing hormone but not substance P. We conclude that b
oth the cell bodies of neurons retrogradely labeled from the pelvic ne
rve and those labeled from the sciatic nerve were apposed by serotonin
varicosities. However, these two systems of neurons appear to be inne
rvated largely by two different populations of serotonergic cells. Thi
s suggests that the raphe-spinal serotonergic system may independently
modulate the activities of somatic motoneurons and parasympathetic pr
eganglionic motoneurons.