Johnson E M, Gorin P D, Osborne P A, Rydel R E, Pearson J
Brain Res. 1982 May 20;240(1):131-40. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(82)90650-3.
An experimental autoimmune approach to the production of nerve growth factor deprivation, which we have previously described in the rat and guinea pig, has been applied to the rabbit. This species was chosen for study because of several potential advantages. The rabbit produces large litters and has a relatively short gestation period. More importantly, rabbits generate high titers of antibody against mouse NGF and large amounts of maternal antibody are passively transferred to the developing rabbit fetus compared to most other species, particularly the rat. The sympathetic nervous system of adult rabbit immunized against mouse NGF underwent degeneration with up to an 85% decrease in neuronal numbers in the superior cervical ganglion after 10 months of immunization, thus providing further evidence that NGF is required for the survival of mature sympathetic neurons. Despite the fact that newborn rabbits born to anti-NGF producing mothers had much higher titers of anti-NGF than did rats, the effects on the developing sympathetic and sensory nervous systems were not found to be any greater than in rats. Reductions in norepinephrine levels in the heart and spleen of adult rabbits born to anti-NGF producing mothers were greater than in small intestine. Prenatal exposure to maternal anti-NGF caused reductions (up to 70%) in the number of neurons in the dorsal root ganglia. Substance-P immunoreactivity was reduced in the substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord of rabbit exposed to maternal anti-NGF. These changes, however, were not greater than seen in the rat. We conclude that although the rabbits offers some advantage in the study of the effects of NGF deprivation in the adult animal, it appears less well suited than the rat or guinea pig to the study of the effects of NGF deprivation on development.
我们之前在大鼠和豚鼠中描述过的一种用于制造神经生长因子剥夺的实验性自身免疫方法已应用于兔子。选择这个物种进行研究有几个潜在的优势。兔子产仔多且妊娠期相对较短。更重要的是，与大多数其他物种，特别是大鼠相比，兔子产生高滴度的抗小鼠神经生长因子抗体，并且大量母源抗体被动转移到发育中的兔胎儿体内。用小鼠神经生长因子免疫的成年兔子的交感神经系统发生退化，免疫10个月后颈上神经节中的神经元数量减少了85%，从而进一步证明成熟交感神经元的存活需要神经生长因子。尽管由产生抗神经生长因子的母亲所生的新生兔子的抗神经生长因子滴度比大鼠高得多，但对发育中的交感和感觉神经系统的影响并未发现比大鼠更大。由产生抗神经生长因子的母亲所生的成年兔子的心脏和脾脏中去甲肾上腺素水平的降低比小肠中的更大。产前暴露于母源抗神经生长因子会导致背根神经节中的神经元数量减少（高达70%）。暴露于母源抗神经生长因子的兔子脊髓胶状质中的P物质免疫反应性降低。然而，这些变化并不比在大鼠中看到的更大。我们得出结论，虽然兔子在研究成年动物中神经生长因子剥夺的影响方面有一些优势，但在研究神经生长因子剥夺对发育的影响方面，它似乎不如大鼠或豚鼠适合。
