Micturitional disturbance in late cortical cerebellar atrophy

261 intermedio-lateral column. After section of the pudendal nerve, there were no labeled cells in the Onuf's nucleus or in the anterior horn nucleus, whereas with injection into the anal external sphincter muscle, neurons of both these nuclei were heavily labeled. The present findings show that the distal colon in the cat is doubly innervated by the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the intermedio-lateral column through the inferior mesenteric plexus and the pelvic nerve, but not through the pudendal nerve. (The Autonomic Nervous System, 29 (1992) 551-568)

Role of a-Adrenoreceptors in the Cardiovascular Effects of Neuropeptide Y Injection into the Nucleus Tractus Solitarii Toshiyuki Takesako, Kazuo Takeda, Tadao Kuwahara, Tatsuo Yoshitomi, Yusuke Yoneda, Ken Takenaka, Motoo Tanaka, Masahiro Hirata, Shinichi Tanabe, Tetsuo Nakata, Susumu Sasaki and Masao Nakagawa

Second Department of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural Unit~ersity of Medicine, Kyoto 602, Japan We studied whether a-adrenoceptors could play an important role in the cardiovascular responses to neuropeptide Y (NPY) microinjected in the nucleus tractus solitarii. Normotensive Wistar rats were anesthetized with urethane. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded via a cannula in the femoral artery. Sympathetic nerve firing was recorded from the splanchnic nerves. NPY (2.5, 12.5, 25 pmol/100 nl), yohimbine (100 ng/100 nl) and doxazosin (200 ng/100 nl) where injected into the nucleus tractus solitarii by a glass micropipette. Microinjection of NPY into the nucleus tractus solitarii in anesthetized rats elicited dose-dependent vasodepressor and bradycardic responses accompanied by inhibition of sympathetic nerve firing. After microinjection of the a2-adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine, the vasodepressor responses to NPY were abolished, while microinjection of the a ladrenoceptor antagonist doxazosin, failed to modify the responses to NPY. These findings suggest that NPY injected into the nucleus tractus solitarii elicits vasodepressor and bradycardic responses with inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity. We suggest that a2-adrenoceptor in the nucleus tractus solitarii may play an important role in these responses. (The Autonomic Nervous System, 29 (1992) 569-574)

Micturitional Disturbance in Late Cortical Cerebellar Atrophy Ryuji Sakakibara, Takamichi Hattori, Masaki Tojo *, Tomonori Yamanishi *, Kosaku Yasuda * and Keizo Hirayama

Department of Neurology, * Department of Urology, Chiba Unit~ersitySchool of Medicine, Chiba 260, Japan We collected detailed micturitional histories and performed urodynamic studies in order to investigate the micturitional disturbance in 10 patients with late cortical cerebellar atrophy. Micturitional symptoms were observed in 50% of the patients, and irritative symptoms and obstructive symptoms were found with equal frequency. Micturitional symptoms appeared late in the course of the disease (mostly after a period of 10 years). The urodynamic study revealed that 3 patients had an average residual urine of 73 ml, and 2 patients had detrusor hyperreflexia. There were no autonomous or atonic cystometrograms, or detrusor dyssynergia. When the present results are compared with our previous findings in olivopontocerebellar atrophy, micturitional disturbance seems less common and less severe in patients with late cortical cerebellar atrophy than in patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophy. It appears that a supranuclear type of pelvic nerve dysfunction is responsible for the micturitional disturbance in late cortical cerebellar atrophy. (The Autonomic Nervous System, 29 (1992) 575-579)

Central ~,-Aminobutyric Acid Stimulation Attenuates Pressor Responses to Intracisternal Injection of Hypertonic NaCI in Rats Ken Takenaka, Susumu Sasaki, Tadao Kuwabara, Tatsuo Yoshitomi, Yuusuke Yoneda, Toshiyuki Takesako. Motoo Tanaka, Masahiro Hirata, Kazuo Takeda and Masao Nakagawa

Second Department of Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602, Japan It is known that central administration of hypertonic saline increases sympathetic nerve outflow and antidiuretic hormone secretion and thereby elevate blood pressure. In contrast, central administration of y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) reduces sympathetic nerve activity and thereby decreases blood pressure and heart rate. Therefore, we carried out the present study to determine whether central GABAergic stimulation affects the cardiovascular responses to central hypertonic