Restoring Spinal Noradrenergic Inhibitory Tone Attenuates Pain Hypersensitivity in a Rat Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Figure 1

Parkinson’s disease model induced by stereotaxic infusion of 6-OHDA into the bilateral striatum of rats. (a) Representative photomicrographs of coronal section showing tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons and fibers in the substantia nigra (SN). The right lanes of pictures are higher magnification of boxed area. Scale bar = 100 μm. (b) The quantification analysis showed the TH-immunostaining intensity in SNc plus SNr (substantia nigra reticular part) at the 5th week after microinjection. Compared with the sham group, the TH-immunoreactivity was significantly decreased in the 6-OHDA-treated group (, compared to the sham control, for each group). (c) The expression level of TH in striatum (CPu) was revealed by western blotting. TH expression in striatum (CPu) was significantly reduced in 6-OHDA-treated rats at the 5th week after operation compared to the sham control. Bottom bar graph showed the relative density of TH/GAPDH between 6-OHDA-treated group () and sham group (). compared to the sham control. (d) There was no significant difference for body weight between 6-OHDA-treated group () and sham group (). (e) The rotarod test showed that comparing to the sham group (), the latency time to fall from the rod for 6-OHDA-treated rats () was significantly decreased from the 2nd week after operation (; compared to the sham group).

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