Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:1.14.16.2 (tyrosine hydroxylase)
 14,760 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The uterus and vagina of the guinea pig have been examined, region by region, for acetylcholinesterase, tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine beta-hydroxylase and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase activity, as well as for the neuropeptides, neuropeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal peptide, substance P, enkephalin and somatostatin. No acetylcholinesterase activity was localized in the uterus, though it was present in associated paracervical ganglion tissues. Of the catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine beta-hydroxylase activity was found virtually throughout the reproductive tract, whereas aromatic amino acid decarboxylase activity was restricted in its distribution. Neuropeptide distribution was quite varied. Neuropeptide Y was found throughout the endometrium/submucosa but only in the muscularis of the vagina and not in the myometrium. Substance P was localized in the vagina and uterine horn, though not the body of the uterus. Vasoactive intestinal peptide was present in all regions of the endometrium/submucosa, but not in the myometrium of the uterine horn. Enkephalin and somatostatin were not localized in any part of the reproductive tract examined, apart from paracervical ganglion tissues. The types and significance of the nerves supplying the reproductive tract are discussed.
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PMID:An immunohistochemical study of the catecholamine synthesizing enzymes and neuropeptides in the female guinea-pig uterus and vagina. 135 70

The distribution of nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive (NOS-IR) axons and their relationship to structures immunoreactive to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), substance P (SP) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) were studied by means of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) technique or double-labelling immunofluorescence in the genital organs of cow and pig. Relevant neurons were also investigated in the pig. NOS-containing neural structures were TH-immunonegative in bovine or porcine genital organs, or in the studied ganglia. In the bovine ovary, NOS-IR nerves were neither VIP-IR nor SP-IR, whereas in the pig, most NOS-containing axons were also VIP-IR. The oviduct was supplied by single NOS/VIP- or NOS/SP-containing nerves, whereas in the uterus, NOS-IR axons were moderate in number, often being immunoreactive for VIP or SP. Numerous NOS/VIP-IR and NOS/SP-IR nerves were found in the vagina of both species. In all tissues studied, NOS-IR axons were mainly related to vascular smooth muscle. Most of the neurons of the paracervical ganglia and some neurons in dorsal root ganglia exhibited strong NOS activity. Only single neurons in sympathetic ganglia were NADPH-d-positive. Most nitrergic neurons in the autonomic ganglia were VIP-IR but SP-immunonegative. The sensory neurons were mostly NOS/SP-IR, whereas only single neurons co-expressed NOS and VIP immunoreactivity.
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PMID:The distribution and co-localization of immunoreactivity to nitric oxide synthase, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and substance P within nerve fibres supplying bovine and porcine female genital organs. 755 66

The distribution of neuropeptide Y, substance P, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, Leu5-enkephalin, bombesin/gastrin-releasing peptide, calcitonin gene-related peptide, somatostatin, cholecystokinin and catecholamine synthesizing enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase was studied immunohistochemically in nerve fibres supplying the bovine vagina and uterus. The nerves containing tyrosine hydroxylase or dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and neuropeptide Y-immunoreactivity were particularly numerous in both organs. Substance P, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and Leu5-enkephalin-containing nerves were less numerous whereas somatostatin and calcitonin gene-related peptide-immunoreactive nerves occurred occasionally. Bombesin/gastrin-releasing peptide and cholecystokinin immunoreactivities were not present in nervous fibers of the bovine uterus and vagina. Generally, the immunoreactive nerve terminals, fibers, networks or nerve bundles were present below the serous membrane, between smooth muscle cells of muscular layers, around blood vessels, in the submucosal layer and below the luminal epithelium of the uterus and cervix.
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PMID:Peptidergic innervation of the bovine vagina and uterus. 777 Nov 84

The vagina, uterus and oviduct were shown to receive galanin immunoreactive (GAL-IR) nerve fibres, the number of which varied between particular organs. In the ovary, GAL-IR nerves were absent. A small number of these nerves were located in the layers of the oviduct. A moderate number of GAL-IR nerves were situated in the body and uterine horns, whereas the uterine cervix and vagina wall contained a large number of GAL-IR nerve fibres, evenly distributed throughout particular membranes of the organs. GAL-IR nerves were found to contain, simultaneously, either vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), substance P (SP) or Leu5-enkephalin (ENK). Many of the GAL-IR nerves contained tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). A group of GAL-IR nerves that did not possess immunoreactivity to VIP, SP, ENK or TH was also observed.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical localization of galanin in bovine reproductive organs. 859 78

The aim of the present study was to gain information about adrenergic-, cholinergic- and non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC)- transmitter systems/mediators in the rat vagina, and to characterize its smooth muscles functionally. Tissue sections from vagina of Sprague Dawley rats were immunolabelled with antibodies against protein gene product 9.5 (PGP), synaptophysin (Syn), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), neuropeptide Y (NPY), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP). Circularly cut vaginal smooth muscle preparations from the distal vagina were studied in organ baths. In the paravaginal tissue, a large number of PGP-, NOS-, TH-, VIP-immunoreactive (IR) and few CGRP-IR nerve trunks were observed, giving off branches to the smooth muscle wall. The smooth muscle wall was supplied by a large number of PGP-, Syn-, VAChT-, NPY-, NOS- and TH- IR nerve terminals, whilst only a moderate to few numbers of CGRP-, VIP- and PACAP-IR terminals were identified. Especially the distal part of the vaginal wall, where the circularly running smooth muscle was thickened into a distinct sphincter structure, was very richly innervated, predominantly by PGP- and NOS-IR terminals. Below and within the basal parts of the epithelium in the distal half of the vagina, a large number of PGP- and few NOS- and PACAP-IR varicose terminals were observed. The vaginal arteries were encircled by plexuses of nerve terminals. A large number of these were PGP-, Syn-, VAChT-, NOS-, TH-, NPY- and VIP-IR, and few were CGRP- and PACAP-IR. In isolated preparations of the distal vagina, electrical field stimulation (EFS) caused frequency-dependent contractions, which were reduced by sildenafil, tetrodotoxin (TTX) and phentolamine. In preparations contracted by norepinephrine (NA), EFS produced frequency-dependent relaxations. Pretreatment with the NOS-inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine, TTX, or the inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase, ODQ, abolished the EFS relaxations. In NE precontracted preparations, cumulative addition of sildenafil caused concentration-dependent relaxation. Carbachol contracted the strips concentration-dependently from baseline. It can be concluded that the distal part of the rat vagina forms a distinct smooth muscle sphincter, which is richly innervated by adrenergic, cholinergic and NANC nerves. The present studies suggest that in the rat the L-arginine/NO-system not only plays an important role in the regulation of vaginal smooth muscle tone, but also affects blood flow, and may have sensory functions.
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PMID:Morphological and functional characterization of a rat vaginal smooth muscle sphincter. 1215 17

Vaginal function is strongly influenced by reproductive hormone status. Vaginal dysfunction during menopause is generally assumed to occur because of diminished estrogen-mediated trophic support of vaginal target cells. However, peripheral neurons possess estrogen receptors and are potentially responsive to gonadal steroid hormones. In the present study, we investigated whether sensory and autonomic innervation of the vagina varies among rats during the estrus phase of the estrous cycle, following chronic ovariectomy, and after sustained estrogen replacement. Relative to rats in estrus, ovariectomized rats showed a 59% elevation in nerve density, as determined using the panneuronal marker PGP 9.5. This increase persisted even after correcting for differences in vaginal tissue size, indicating true axonal proliferation after ovariectomy rather than changes secondary to altered volume. Increased total innervation after ovariectomy was attributable to increased densities of sympathetic nerves immunostained for tyrosine hydroxylase (70%), cholinergic parasympathetic nerves immunoreactive for vesicular acetylcholine transporter (93%), and calcitonin gene-related peptide-immunoreactive sensory nociceptor nerves (84%). Myelinated primary sensory innervation revealed by RT-97 immunoreactivity did not appear to be affected. Sustained 17beta-estradiol administration reduced innervation density to an extent comparable to that of estrus, implying that estrogen is the hormone mediating vaginal neuroplasticity. These findings indicate that some aspects of vaginal dysfunction during menopause may be attributable to changes in innervation. Increased sympathetic innervation may augment vasoconstriction and promote vaginal dryness, while sensory nociceptor axon proliferation may contribute to symptoms of pain, burning, and itching associated with menopause and some forms of vulvodynia.
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PMID:Estrogen regulates vaginal sensory and autonomic nerve density in the rat. 1518 32

When performing anterior colporrhaphy for cystocele, most pelvic surgeons have not considered the neuroanatomy that contributes to urethral function. The aim of the study was to anatomically identify nerve fibers located in the anterior vagina associated with the pathogenesis of incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Anterior vaginal specimens were obtained from 17 female cadavers and 33 cases of clinical cystocele by anterior vaginal resection. The specimens were step-sectioned and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, S100 antibody, and tyrosine hydroxylase antibody. As a result, descending nerves 50-200 microm in thickness were identified between the urethra and vagina. They were located more than 10 mm medially from a cluster of nerves found almost along the lateral edge of the vagina and stained with S100 and tyrosine hydroxylase antibody, originated from the cranial part of the pelvic plexus, and appeared to terminate at the urethral smooth muscles. The authors classified the density of S100 positive nerve fibers in the anterior vaginal wall obtained from clinically operated cases of cystocele into three grades (Grade 1, nothing or a few thin nerves less than 20 microm in diameter; Grade 2, thick nerves more than 50 microm in diameter and thin nerves; Grade 3, more than 3 thick nerves in one field at an objective magnification of 40x). Mean urethral mobility (Q-tip) values (28.1 degrees +/-+/- 19.6 degrees ) observed in the Grade 3 cases was significantly lower than those (50.0 degrees +/-+/- 27.4 degrees and 59.4 degrees +/-+/- 19.9 degrees ) in Grade 2 and Grade 1, respectively. In addition, the presence of preoperative or postoperative stress urinary incontinence in the cases of Grade 1 was significantly higher than those of the cases with S100 positive stained nerves. In conclusion, the novel nerve fibers immunohistochemically identified in the anterior vaginal wall are different from those of the common nervous system or the pelvic floor and are associated with the pathogenesis of urethral hypermobility.
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PMID:A clinicoanatomical study of the novel nerve fibers linked to stress urinary incontinence: the first morphological description of a nerve descending properly along the anterior vaginal wall. 1702 34

Changes in reproductive status place varied functional demands on the vagina. These include receptivity to male intromission and sperm transport in estrus, barrier functions during early pregnancy, and providing a conduit for fetal passage at parturition. Peripheral innervation regulates vaginal function, which in turn may be influenced by circulating reproductive hormones. We assessed vaginal innervation in diestrus and estrus (before and after the estrous cycle surge in estrogen), and in the early (low estrogen) and late (high estrogen) stages in pregnancy. In vaginal sections from cycling rats, axons immunoreactive for the pan-neuronal marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) showed a small reduction at estrus relative to diestrus, but this difference did not persist after correcting for changes in target size. No changes were detected in axons immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase (sympathetic), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (parasympathetic), or calcitonin gene-related peptide and transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV-1; sensory nociceptors). In rats at 10 days of pregnancy, innervation was similar to that observed in cycling rats. However, at 21 days of pregnancy, axons immunoreactive for PGP 9.5 and each of the subpopulation-selective markers were significantly reduced both when expressed as percentage of sectional area or after correcting for changes in target size. Because peripheral nerves regulate vaginal smooth muscle tone, blood flow, and pain sensitivity, reductions in innervation may represent important adaptive mechanisms facilitating parturition.
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PMID:Adaptive plasticity of vaginal innervation in term pregnant rats. 2166 1