Journal of the autonomic nervous system
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J. Auton. Nerv. Syst. · May 1998
Calcitonin gene-related peptide and nitric oxide in the trigeminal ganglion: cerebral vasodilatation from trigeminal nerve stimulation involves mainly calcitonin gene-related peptide.
Nitric oxide (NO) is a novel neurotransmitter candidate to which a large number of physiological roles has been ascribed. In the present study, immunocytochemistry was used to demonstrate NO synthase (NOS) and to investigate possible co-localization with other neurotransmitters. In the trigeminal ganglion of the cat, a moderate number of NOS immunoreactive nerve cell bodies was seen, of which the major part also expressed calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). ⋯ Local cortical administration of the CGRP blocker h-CGRP (8-37) did not alter the cerebral vasodilator response to hypercapnia or resting flow. However, the nasociliary nerve response was reduced by 50% after h-CGRP (8-37), with a general shift to the right of the frequency-response curve. These data suggest that although NOS is seen in several trigeminal ganglion cells and coexists with CGRP in a subpopulation of the sensory neurons, its role in trigeminally mediated vasodilatation was not significant.