The impact of spinal cord injury on sympathetic ganglionic control of the heart
department or school: Medicine, Faculty of
department or school: Medicine, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Taki, Alissa
issued: 2024-11-12T23:39:06Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts supraspinal input to sympathetic pathways that control the heart, leading to altered cardiovascular function. While advances have been made in understanding the impact of SCI on cardiovascular function, its effects on sympathetic ganglia remains largely unclear. The objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the role of the superior cervical ganglia (SCG) and stellate ganglia (StG) in controlling cardiovascular function in rats with and without chronic complete transection SCI at the T3 level (T3-SCI), and 2) to assess anatomical plasticity of the ganglia post-injury. 12 male Wistar rats (6 naïve, 6 T3-SCI at 4 weeks post-injury) underwent surgical instrumentation and parasympathetic blockade for assessment of sympathetic control of cardiovascular function. Through left-ventricular and femoral-arterial pressure catheters, resting cardiovascular function was assessed sequentially at baseline, following superior cervical ganglionectomy (SCGX), and after stellate ganglionectomy (StGX). Excised ganglia were used for immunohistochemical analysis to identify cardiac-projecting neurons in the SCG and StG through markers of neuropeptide Y and calbindin-D28k. Tyrosine hydroxylase was also used as a marker to quantify cell activity in the ganglia. T3-SCI rats demonstrated significantly lower cardiac and hemodynamic indices compared to naïve rats. SCGX did not alter these indices in either group, whereas StGX led to a significant decline in cardiovascular function in naïve rats. In T3-SCI animals, responses to StGX were blunted. Comparisons between naïve animals after StGX and T3-SCI animals at baseline (i.e. intact ganglia) revealed similar cardiovascular function. Furthermore, we found that cardiac-projecting neuronal cell bodies were significantly larger in the SCG and StG of T3-SCI animals. In summary, our findings demonstrate that sympathetic pathways through the StG that modulate the heart are effectively disrupted in chronic T3-SCI, l…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/89658
note: THE IMPACT OF SPINAL CORD INJURY ON SYMPATHETIC GANGLIONIC CONTROL OF THE HEART by Alissa Taki B.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2022 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Experimental Medicine) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) November 2024 © Alissa Taki, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: The Impact of Spinal Cord Injury on Sympathetic Ganglionic Control of the Heart Submitted by Alissa Taki in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Experimental Medicine Examining Committee: Christopher R West, Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, UBC Supervisor Matt S Ramer, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Stephen J Lewis, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University Supervisory Committee Member Brett J Hilton, Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, UBC Additional Examiner iii Abstract Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts supraspinal input to sympathetic pathways that control the heart, leading to altered cardiovascular function. While advances have been made in understanding the impact of SCI on cardiovascular function, its effects on sympathetic ganglia remains largely unclear. The objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the role of the superior cervical ganglia (SCG) and stellate ganglia (StG) in controlling cardiovascular function in rats with and without chronic complete transection SCI at the T3 level (T3-SCI), and 2) to assess anatomical plasticity of the ganglia post-injury. 12 male Wistar rats (6 naïve, 6 T3-SCI at 4 weeks post-injury) underwent surgical instrumentation and parasympathetic blockade for assessment of sympathetic cont…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0447268
language: eng
degree discipline: Experimental Medicine
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: West, Christopher R.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89658