Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Afferent Inputs to Ventrolateral Medulla

  • Chapter
Central Neural Mechanisms in Cardiovascular Regulation

  • 45 Accesses

Abstract

Recent studies from our laboratory have reported the existence of two pathways arising in the nucleus tractus solitarius in the dorsomedial medulla and terminating in the ventrolateral medulla. One of these pathways contains excitatory amino acids (Somogyi et al., 1989) and the other contains enkephalin (Morilak et al., 1989; Fig. 1.1). This chapter describes these projections and their possible contribution to the regulation of blood pressure. First, however, the importance of the ventrolateral medulla in the regulation of blood pressure is summarized briefly and the major bulbospinal projections descending from this region to innervate the sympathetic outflow from the intermediolateral cell column in the thoracic spinal cord are described.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Armstrong DM, Pickel VM, Joh TH, Reis DJ, Miller RJ (1981): Immunocyto- chemical localization of catecholamine synthesizing enzymes and neuropeptides in area postrema and medial nucleus tractus solitarius of rat brain. J Comp Neurol 196: 505–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon SJ, Smith AD (1988): Preganglionic sympathetic neurones innervating the rat adrenal medulla: Immunocytochemical evidence of synaptic input from nerve terminals containing substance P, GABA or 5-hydroxytryptamine. J Auton Nerv Syst 24: 97–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blessing WW (1989): Baroreceptor-vasomotor reflex after N-methyl-D-asparate receptor blockade in rabbit caudal ventrolateral medulla. J Physiol 416: 67–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blessing WW, Li YW (1989): Inhibitory vasomotor neurons in the caudal ventrolateral region of the medulla oblongata. Brain Res 81: 83–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blessing WW, Oliver JR, Hodgson AH, Joh TH, Willoughby JO (1987): Neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactive CI neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the rabbit project to sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord. J Auton Nerv Syst 18: 121–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blessing WW, West MJ, Chalmers JP (1981): Hypertension, bradycardia and pulmonary oedema in the conscious rabbit after lesions of the ventrolateral medulla oblongata coinciding with the A1 group of catecholamine neurons. Circ Res 49: 949–958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox BF, Brody MJ (1989a): Mechanisms of respiration-induced changes in vasomotor control exerted by rostral ventrolateral medulla. Am J Physiol 257: R626–R634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox BF, Brody MJ (1989b): Subregions of rostral ventral medulla control arterial pressure and regional hemodynamics. Am J Physiol 257: R635–R640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuenod M, Streit P (1984): Neuronal tracing using retrograde migration of labeled transmitter-related compounds. In Handbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy. Volume 1. Methods in Chemical Neuroanatomy. Elsevier. Amsterdam, Bjork- lund A, Hokfelt T. 365–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dampney RAL Czachurski J, Dembowsky K, Goodchild AK, Seller HJ (1987): Afferent connections and spinal projections of the pressor region in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the cat. J Auton Nerv Syst 20: 73–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dampney RAL, Moon EA (1980): Role of ventrolateral medulla in vasomotor response to cerebral ischemia. Am J Physiol 239: H349–H358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies J, Francis A, Jones AW, Watkins JC (1981): 2-Amino-5-phos- phonovalerate (2-APV), a potent and selective antagonist of amino acid-induced and synaptic excitation. Neurosci Lett 21: 77–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dembowsky K, Czachurski J, Seller H (1989): Some properties of the sympathoinhibition from the caudal ventrolateral medulla oblongata in the cat. Brain Res 81: 143–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elde R, Hokfelt T, Johansson O, Terenius L (1976): Immunohistochemical studies using antibodies to leucine-enkephalin: Initial observations on the nervous system of the rat. Neuroscience 1: 349–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldberg W (1976): The ventral surface of the brainstem: A scarcely explored region of pharmacological sensitivity. Neuroscience 1: 427–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldberg W, Guertzenstein PG (1972): A vasodepressor effect of pentobarbitone sodium. J Physiol 224: 83–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldberg W, Guertzenstein PG (1976): Vasodepressor effects obtained by drugs acting on the ventral surface of the brainstem. J Physiol 258: 337–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finley JCW, Maderdrut JL, Petrusz P (1981): The immunocytochemical localization of enkephalins in the central nervous system of the rat. J Comp Neurol 198: 541–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon FJ (1987): Aortic baroreceptor reflexes are mediated by NMD A receptors in caudal ventrolateral medulla. Am J Physiol 252: R628–R633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guertzenstein PG, Silver A (1974): Fall in blood pressure produced from discrete regions of the ventral surface of the medulla by glycine and lesions. J Physiol (Lond) 242: 489–503.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guyenet PG, Filtz TM, Donaldson SR (1987): Role of excitatory amino acids in rat vagal and sympathetic baroreflexes. Brain Res 407: 272–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hokfelt T, Fuxe K, Goldstein M, Johansson O (1974): Immunohistochemical evidence for the existence of adrenaline neurons in the rat brain. Brain Res 66: 235–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe PRC, Kuhn DM, Minson JB, Stead BH, Chalmers JP (1983): Evidence for a bulbospinal serotonergic pressor pathway in the rat brain. Brain Res 270: 29–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson O, Hokfelt T, Pernow B, et al., (1981): Immunohistochemical support for three putative transmitters in one neuron: Coexistence of 5-hydro- xytryptamine, substance P and thyrotropin releasing hormone like immuno- reactivity in medullary neurons projecting to the spinal cord. Neuroscience 6: 1857–1881.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khachaturian H, Lewis ME, Watson SJ (1983): Enkephalin systems in diencepha- lon and brainstem of the rat. J Comp Neurol 220: 310–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohno J, Shinoda K, Kawai Y, Ohuchi T, Ono K, Shiotani Y (1988): Interaction between adrenergic fibers and intermediate cholinergic neurons in the rat spinal cord: A new double-immunostaining method for correlated light and electron microscopic observations. Neuroscience 25 (1): 113–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubo T, Kihara M (1988): N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors mediate tonic vasodepressor control in the caudal ventrolateral medulla of the rat. Brain Res 45: 366–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llewellyn-Smith IS, Minson JB, Morilak DA, Oliver JR, Chalmers JP (1990): Neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive synapses in the intermediolateral cell column of rat and rabbit thoracic spinal cord. Neurosci Lett 108: 243–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loewy AD, Burton H (1978): Nuclei of the solitary tract: Efferent projections to the lower brain stem and spinal cord of the cat. J Comp Neurol 181: 421–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludbrook J, Rutter PC (1988): Effect of naloxone on haemodynamic responses to acute blood loss in unanesthetized rabbits. J Physiol 400: 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner TA, Morrison SF, Abate C, Reis DJ (1988): Phenylethanolamine N- methyltransferase-containing terminals synapse directly on sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the rat. Brain Res 448: 205–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minson JB, Chalmers JP, Caon AC, Renaud B (1987): Separate areas of rat medulla oblongata with populations of serotonin- and adrenaline-containing neurons alter blood pressure after L-glutamate stimulation. J Auton Nerv Syst 19: 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morilak DA, Somogyi P, Mcllhinney RAJ, Chalmers J (1989): An enkephalin- containing pathway from nucleus tractus solitarii to the pressor area of the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the rabbit. Neuroscience 1: 427–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morilak DA, Drolet G, Chalmers J (1990a): Cardiovascular effects of the opioid antagonist naloxone in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of rabbits. Am J Physiol 258: R325–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morilak DA, Drolet G, Chalmers J (1990b): Tonic opioid inhibition of the pressor region of the rostral ventrolateral medulla of rabbits is mediated by delta receptors. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 254: 671–676.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison SF, Calloway J, Milner TA, Reis DJ (1989): Glutamate in the spinal sympathetic intermediolateral nucleus: Localization by light and electron microscopy. Brain Res 503: 5–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilowsky PM, Kapoor V, Minson JB, West MJ, Chalmers JP (1986a): Spinal cord serotonin release and raised blood pressure after brainstem kainic acid injection. Brain Res 366: 354–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilowsky PM, Morris MJ, Minson JB, et al. (1986b): Inhibition of vasodepressor neurons in the caudal ventrolateral medulla of the rabbit increases both arterial pressure and the release of neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity from the spinal cord. Brain Res 420: 380–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis DJ, Morrison S, Ruggiero DA (1988): The CI area of the brainstem in tonic and reflex control of blood pressure. Hypertension II (suppl I): 18–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross CA, Ruggiero DA, Reis DJ (1985): Projections from the nucleus tractus solitarii to the rostral ventrolateral medulla. J Comp Neurol 242: 511–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross CA, Ruggiero DA, Joh TH, Reis DJ (1983): Adrenaline synthesizing neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla: A possible role in tonic vasomotor control. Brain Res 273: 356–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross CA, Ruggiero DA, Park DH,. (1984): Tonic vasomotor control by the rostral ventrolateral medulla: Effect of electrical or chemical stimulation of the area containing CI adrenaline neurons on arterial pressure, heart rate, and plasma catecholamines and vasopressin. J Neurosci 4: 474–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasek CA, Wessendorf MW, Helke CJ (1990): Evidence for co-existence of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, substance P and serotonin in ventral medullary neurons that project to the intermediolateral cell column in the rat. Neuroscience 35: 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simantov R, Kuhar MJ, Uhl GR, Snyder SH (1977): Opioid peptide enkephalin: immunohistochemical mapping in rat central nervous system. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74: 2167–2171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somogyi P, Minson JB, Morilak D, Llewellyn-Smith IS, Mcllhinney JRA, Chalmers J (1989): Evidence for an excitatory amino acid pathway in the brainstem and for its involvement in cardiovascular control. Brain Res 496: 401–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spyer KM (1981): Neural organization and control of the baroreceptor reflex. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol 88: 24–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urbanski RW, Sapru HN (1988): Evidence for a sympathoexcitatory pathway from the nucleus tractus solitarii to the ventrolateral medullary pressor area. J Auton NervSyst 23: 161–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West MJ, Blessing WW, Chalmers J (1981): Arterial baroreceptor reflex function in the conscious rabbit after brain lesions coinciding with the A1 group of catecholamine neurons. Circ Res 49: 959–970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamazoe M, Shisaka S, Shibaski T,. (1984): Distribution of six neuropeptides in the nucleus tractus solitarii of the rat: An immunohistochemical analysis. Neuroscience 13: 1243–1266.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. John P. Chalmers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emilio Badoer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Morilak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Guy Drolet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jane B. Minson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ida J. Llewellyn-Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Peter Somogyi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Vimal Kapoor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Paul Pilowsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. LPPS, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 12501 Washington Avenue, 20852, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    George Kunos (Chief) (Chief)

  2. Department of Physiology, University of Western Ontario Health Science Centre, N6A 5C1, London, Ontario, Canada

    John Ciriello

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Birkhäuser Boston, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Chalmers, J.P. et al. (1991). Afferent Inputs to Ventrolateral Medulla. In: Kunos, G., Ciriello, J. (eds) Central Neural Mechanisms in Cardiovascular Regulation. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9834-3_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9834-3_1

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Boston

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9836-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9834-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation