Abstract
The effect of aging on the number, size, conduction velocity, and vasoconstrictive
function of unmyelinated fibers in ovarian nerve accompanying the ovarian artery was
studied in adult (4–7 mo) and aged (28–31 mo) rats. Morphological observation by electron microscopy showed that the ovarian
nerve contains mainly unmyelinated fibers with only a small percentage (less than
4%) of myelinated fibers in either age group. The number of unmyelinated fibers tended
to decrease in aged rats (717±59) compared to adult rats (801±48), especially in fibers of smaller diameter, although this difference was not statistically
significant. The maximum conduction velocity of unmyelinated fibers within the ovarian
nerve was similar when compared between adult (1.05±0.04 m/s) and aged (1.02±0.05 m/s) rats. Under anesthesia, electrical stimulation of the distal portion of a severed
ovarian nerve reduced ovarian blood flow, as measured by laser Doppler flowmetry,
when the stimulus intensity was above the threshold for unmyelinated C fibers. Stimulation
of the ovarian nerve with supra-maximum intensity (10 V) at 2–20 Hz frequencies produced frequency-dependent reductions in ovarian blood flow in both
adult and aged rats. There were no significant differences in magnitude of the reduction
in ovarian blood flow with comparable frequencies of electrical stimulation of the
ovarian nerve between adult and aged rats. Collectively, these data indicate that
unmyelinated C fibers in ovarian nerve are maintained in number, size, conduction
ability, and vasoconstrictor function in aged rats.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 02, 2011
Accepted:
May 6,
2011
Received in revised form:
April 22,
2011
Received:
March 8,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
