Topic: muscle afferent nerves

[Background]: In ischemic limb, ATP and products of oxidative stress respectively stimulate purinergic P2X3 receptors and transient receptor potential cation channel V1 (TRPV1) in afferent nerves. In this study, limb ischemia was induced by 72-hour femoral artery occlusion in rats. We determined if concentration of intracellular calcium/[Ca2+]i is enhanced in muscle dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons of ischemic rats following stimulation of P2X3; and if removal of TRPV1 alters P2X3-increased [Ca2+]i in DRG neurons. [Methods]: Muscle DRG neurons were identified by fluorescent Dil injected prev