Spinal ganglion cells

Chlorpromazine arrests cultured cells in mitosis and disorganises the organised microtubule structure produced by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (Poffenbarger and Fuller 1977). It causes a reduction in the number of microtubules in spinal ganglion cells (Edstrom et al. 1973, Thyberg et al. 1977) and neuroblastoma cells (EdstrOm et al. 1975) in vitro. The micellar form of chlorpromazine interacts preferentially with one site on brain tubulin (Gann et al. 1981). Ghlorpromazine has been shown to bind reversibly to tubulin prepared from mouse brain via two well-resolved processes (Hin-... 

In addition to changes within the nerve, sympathetic afferents become able to activate sensory afferents via as yet poorly characterised a-adrenoceptors. These interactions between adjacent sensory and autonomic nerve axons and between ganglion cells result in excitation spreading between different nerve fibres. These peripheral ectopic impulses can cause spontaneous pain and prime the spinal cord to exhibit enhanced evoked responses to stimuli, which themselves have greater effects due to increased sensitivity of the peripheral nerves. 

Neuregulins are highly expressed in the nervous system by neuroblasts, cortical neurons, peripheral sensory ganglionic cells and spinal motor neurons as well as myelinforming glia. 

Studies (mainly in vitro) illustrate that BDNF promotes the survival of embryonic retina ganglion cells, dopaminergic neurons, as well as cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain, embryonic spinal motor neurons and cortical neurons. 

Silperisone (32) is a sodium channel blocker acting centrally as a muscle relaxant. The compormd has been in preclinical animal studies [81, 82] and has been proposed recently to have potential as an antispastic drug in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In vivo, silperisone depressed ventral root reflexes and excitability of motoneurons. Whole-cell measurements in dorsal root ganglion cells revealed that silperisone depressed voltage gated sodium channel conductance at concentrations that inhibited spinal reflexes. 

DNP as the sodium salt for 5 days complained of headache, weakness, and dizziness (Poole and Haining 1934). She became comatose on the way to the hospital and subsequently died. Autopsy revealed hyperemia of the spinal cord, pons, and medulla, slight degeneration of ganglion cells in the pons, and capillaries distended with blood. A psychiatric patient given 2.66 mg/kg/day... 

Lindsay, R.M. and Benowitz, L.I. (1990) The growth-associated protein GAP-43 appears in dorsal root ganglion cells and in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord following peripheral nerve injury. Neuroscience 34 465-478. 

Fig. 3-30. Ganglion cell from the anterior horn of spinal cord of a three-year-old girl affected by Tay-Sachs disease. The cell cytoplasm displays considerable numbers of abnormal inclusion bodies made up of concentrically arranged membranes. These bodies are known to consist prevalently of lipid (GM2 ganglioside) and also to contain acid phosphatase activity (+ 35,000) (Zamboni)...

Histologic changes similar to those of the brain are found in the spinal cord and in the ganglion cells of the autonomous nervous system. 

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