XXXX modulation of gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity: Impact of age and sex.

@entity47343 @entity19 @entity47344
AIM: Gastric vagal afferents are activated in response to mechanical stimulation, an effect attenuated by @entity47343 (NPW) in 20-week-old female @entity19 . In this study we aimed to determine whether there were age and sex dependent effects of NPW on gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity. METHODS: An in vitro gastro-oesophageal preparation was used to determine the effect of NPW on gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity from 8 and 20-week-old male and female C57BL/6 @entity19 . Retrograde tracing and laser capture microdissection were used to selectively collect gastric vagal afferent cell bodies. Expression of NPW in the gastric mucosa and its receptor, @entity47344 , in gastric vagal afferent cell bodies was determined using quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: NPW inhibited gastric tension sensitive vagal afferents from 20-week-old male and female @entity19 , but not 8-week-old @entity19 . In contrast, NPW inhibited the mechanosensitivity of gastric mucosal vagal afferents in 8-week-old male and female @entity19 , but not 20-week-old @entity19 . NPW mRNA expression in the gastric mucosa was higher in 20-week-old male @entity19 compared to 8-week-old male @entity19 . @entity47344 mRNA expression in vagal afferent neurons innervating the gastric muscular layers was higher in 20-week-old @entity19 compared to 8-week-old @entity19 in both sexes. CONCLUSION: The inhibitory effect of NPW on gastric tension sensitive and mucosal vagal afferents is age but not sex-dependent. These findings suggest that the physiological role of NPW varies depending on the age of the @entity19 .
