Inferior vagal ganglion galaninergic response to gastric ulcers

PLoS One. 2020 Nov 23;15(11):e0242746. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242746. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Galanin is a neuropeptide widely expressed in central and peripheral nerves and is known to be engaged in neuronal responses to pathological changes. Stomach ulcerations are one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders. Impaired stomach function in peptic ulcer disease suggests changes in autonomic nerve reflexes controlled by the inferior vagal ganglion, resulting in stomach dysfunction. In this paper, changes in the galaninergic response of inferior vagal neurons to gastric ulceration in a pig model of the disease were analyzed based on the authors' previous studies. The study was performed on 24 animals (12 control and 12 experimental). Gastric ulcers were induced by submucosal injections of 40% acetic acid solution into stomach submucosa and bilateral inferior vagal ganglia were collected one week afterwards. The number of galanin-immunoreactive perikarya in each ganglion was counted to determine fold-changes between both groups of animals and Q-PCR was applied to verify the changes in relative expression level of mRNA encoding both galanin and its receptor subtypes: GalR1, GalR2, GalR3. The results revealed a 2.72-fold increase in the number of galanin-immunoreactive perikarya compared with the controls. Q-PCR revealed that all studied genes were expressed in examined ganglia in both groups of animals. Statistical analysis revealed a 4.63-fold increase in galanin and a 1.45-fold increase in GalR3 mRNA as compared with the controls. No differences were observed between the groups for GalR1 or GalR2. The current study confirmed changes in the galaninergic inferior vagal ganglion response to stomach ulcerations and demonstrated, for the first time, the expression of mRNA encoding all galanin receptor subtypes in the porcine inferior vagal ganglia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetic Acid / toxicity
  • Animals
  • Galanin / metabolism*
  • Ganglia, Parasympathetic / metabolism*
  • Ganglia, Parasympathetic / pathology
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Receptors, Galanin / metabolism*
  • Stomach Ulcer / chemically induced
  • Stomach Ulcer / metabolism*
  • Stomach Ulcer / pathology
  • Swine
  • Vagus Nerve / metabolism*
  • Vagus Nerve / pathology

Substances

  • RNA, Messenger
  • Receptors, Galanin
  • Galanin
  • Acetic Acid

Grants and funding

This publication was supported by RID (Project financially co-supported by Minister of Science and Higher Education in the range of the program entitled "Regional Initiative of Excellence" for the years 2019-2022). Project No. 010/RID/2018/19, amount of funding 12.000.000 PLN. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.