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The Influence of Pregnancy and Gender on Perivascular Innervation of Rat Posterior Cerebral Arteries

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Abstract

The authors investigated the influence of pregnancy and gender on the density of trigeminal and sympathetic perivascular nerves in posterior cerebral arteries (PCA) and the reactivity to norepinephrine and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). PCAs were isolated from nonpregnant, late-pregnant, postpartum, and male rats, mounted and pressurized on an arteriograph chamber to obtain concentration-response curves to norepinephrine and CGRP. Arteries were immunostained for CGRP-, tyrosine hydroxylase—, and protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5)—containing perivascular nerves, and nerve density was determined morphologically. Pregnancy had a trophic effect on trigeminal perivascular innervation (P < .01 vs male); however, this was not accompanied by a change in reactivity to CGRP. Sympathetic and PGP 9.5 nerve densities were not altered by pregnancy or gender, and there were no differences in reactivity to norepinephrine. Together, these results suggest that the increase in trigeminal innervation during pregnancy is more related to nociception than in controlling resting cerebral blood flow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pharmacology, University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Ave, Given C454, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Annet M. Aukes MSc, Nicole Bishop BS, Julie Godfrey BA & Marilyn J. Cipolla PhD

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Groningen, School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, and University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Annet M. Aukes MSc

Authors
  1. Annet M. Aukes MSc
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  2. Nicole Bishop BS
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  3. Julie Godfrey BA
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  4. Marilyn J. Cipolla PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marilyn J. Cipolla PhD.

Additional information

We would like to thank the generous support of the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grant NS045940 and the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award 0540081N. We would also like to thank the Totman Medical Research Trust for their continued support. We also gratefully acknowledge the help of the Microscopy Imaging Center at the University of Vermont.

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Aukes, A.M., Bishop, N., Godfrey, J. et al. The Influence of Pregnancy and Gender on Perivascular Innervation of Rat Posterior Cerebral Arteries. Reprod. Sci. 15, 411–419 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719107314067

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