Stafford S A, Tang K, Coote J H
Division of Neuroscience, The Medical School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Neuroscience. 2006;138(2):725-32. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.11.044. Epub 2006 Jan 31.
In urethane-anesthetized female rats, a branch of the hypogastric nerve equivalent to the vas deferens nerve in males was shown anatomically and electrophysiologically to supply the uterine horns and we have consequently termed this the uterine nerve. Administration of p-chloroamphetamine i.v. elicited patterned bursting uterine nerve activity responses together with contractions of the uterine horns and musculature of the vaginal wall. These responses are qualitatively similar to ejaculatory responses observed following p-chloroamphetamine administration to anesthetized male rats and the urethrogenital reflex in females, suggesting they represent responses occurring during sexual processes. This response to p-chloroamphetamine was still present after complete transection of the spinal cord at T8. These data indicate that common neurophysiological and pharmacological mechanisms regulate genital reflexes at the lumbosacral spinal level in both the female and the male rat.
