The influence of gender on parasympathetic vasodilatation in the submandibular gland of the rat.

Parasympathetic vasodilatation in the rat submandibular gland is mediated by nitric oxide-dependent and -independent mechanisms (prostacyclin and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF)). The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of gender on the relative contributions of each pathway to nerve-stimulated vasodilatation. Absolute increases in perfusion (laser Doppler flowmetry) were similar in male and female rats (in arbitrary perfusion units: 6159+/-4530 and 5601+/-3877 at 2 Hz; 15645+/-6830 and 14848+/-6118 at 5 Hz; and 22418+/-7660 and 18878+/-5864 at 10 Hz).

Neural regulation of submandibular gland blood flow in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat: evidence for impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation.

Functional changes in vascular tone and reactivity arise early in diabetes, and endothelial dysfunction plays a central role in the development of these microvascular abnormalities. Blood flow in the rat submandibular gland is mainly under neural regulation, which is mediated in part via endothelium-dependent mechanisms. Given the role of the endothelium in regulating blood flow and the deleterious effects of diabetes on endothelial cell function, we hypothesised that diabetes would significantly impair neural regulation of submandibular gland vascular perfusion.

Inflammatory hypersensitivity in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain.

Thermal and mechanical stimuli have been used to monitor the development of neuropathic pain following an experimental injury to a branch of the trigeminal nerve. However, the response to inflammatory challenge has not been evaluated in a model of orofacial neuropathic pain. The purpose of this study was to determine whether chronic constriction of the infraorbital nerve (IoN) enhances nociceptive responses elicited by the formalin test.

Behavioral and electrophysiological consequences of deafferentation following chronic constriction of the infraorbital nerve in adult rats.

Deafferentation of the hind paw following sciatic nerve injury results in behavioral changes, such as autotomy, suggestive of persistent, spontaneous pain. The effects of deafferentation involving trigeminal nerves have, however, received less attention. Here, alterations in trigeminal ganglion neuronal activity and mechanically evoked and spontaneous behavior were studied in adult rats after a chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve (ION).

Trigeminal ganglion neuronal activity and glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity after inferior alveolar nerve crush in the adult rat.

Nerve injury to the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve has been shown to cause satellite cell reactions that extend beyond the mandibular division of the trigeminal ganglion into the maxillary and ophthalmic divisions. The goal of this study was to determine whether any physiological abnormalities correlated with this dispersal of satellite cell reaction. We investigated the electrophysiological and satellite cell glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity (GFAP-IR) changes that occur within the trigeminal ganglion 3, 10 and 59 days after a crush injury of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN).