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First published online on February 2, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by The Physiological Society
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jphysiol.2005.102574v1
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Received November 29, 2005
Revised December 19, 2005
Accepted after revision January 27, 2006

Convergence of multiple pelvic organ inputs in the rostral medulla

Ezidin G. Kaddumi1 and Charles H. Hubscher1*

1 University of Louisville School of Medicine

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: chhubs01{at}louisville.edu.

Electrophysiological recordings were used to investigate the degree of pelvic/visceral convergent inputs onto single medullary reticular formation (MRF) neurons. A total of 94 MRF neurons responsive to bilateral electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve (PN) in 12 urethane anesthetized male rats were tested for responses to mechanical stimulation of the urinary bladder, urethra, colon and penis, and electrical stimulation of the dorsal nerve of the penis (DNP) and abdominal branches of the vagus. Responses to distention of the bladder were found for 51% (n=48) of the MRF neurons tested. Of these 48, 71% responded to urethral infusion, 81% responded to colon distention, 100% responded to penile stimulation (and DNP), and 85% responded to vagal stimulation, with 62% responding to stimulation of all four of these territories. This high degree of visceral convergence (i.e., 62%) in a subset of PN-responsive MRF neurons is significantly greater than for the subset of PN-responsive MRF neurons that did not respond to urinary bladder distention (i.e., out of the 46 remaining neurons, none responded to all four of the other pelvic/visceral stimuli combined). These results suggest that the neurons processing information from the urinary bladder at this level of the neural axis are likely important for mediating interactions between different visceral organs for the coordination of multiple pelvic/visceral functions.


Key words: Bladder • Colon • Visceral pain




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