Motor activity induces release of serotonin in the dorsal horn of the rat lumbar spinal cord.

Christine Gerin (1, 2) , Jean-Rene Teilhac (1) , Kristin Smith (3) , Alain Privat (1)

1 Physiopathologie et thérapie des déficits sensoriels et moteurs
2 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
3 Department of Biological Sciences [Chicago]

Literature highlights that serotonergic descending pathways are implicated in somatosensory functions in the spinal cord and that serotonin (5-HT) in the dorsal horn might play a role in motor function through proprioceptive feedback. We hypothesized that 5-HT release in dorsal horn might represent an important factor in the completion of locomotion by facilitation of the spinocerebellar tract and/or by modulation of spinal reflex pathways. The present study demonstrates that during locomotor activity, 5-HT is released in layers II, III, IV, V of Rexed. Microdialysis in combination with HPLC was used to measure concentrations of neurotransmitters in the lumbar dorsal horn before, during, and after a treadmill running exercise. Our results show a significant 41% increase of 5-HT release within the dorsal horn during the exercise. 5-HT release is temporally related to exercise. The present study demonstrates that dorsal horn 5-HT release might modulate locomotion.

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]

Christine Gerin, Jean-Rene Teilhac, Kristin Smith, Alain Privat. Motor activity induces release of serotonin in the dorsal horn of the rat lumbar spinal cord.. Neuroscience Letters, 2008, 436 (2), pp.91-5. ⟨10.1016/j.neulet.2008.01.081⟩. ⟨inserm-00349499⟩