Local Sympathetic Denervation of Femoral Artery in a Rabbit Model by Using 6-HydroxydopamineIn Situ

Abstract

Both artery bundle and sympathetic nerve were involved with the metabolism of bone tissues. Whether the enhancing effects of artery bundle result from its accompanying sympathetic nerve or blood supply is still unknown. There is no ideal sympathetic nerve-inhibited method for thein situdenervation of artery bundle. Therefore, we dipped the femoral artery in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) locally and observed its effect. Compared with control group, thein situtreatment of 6-OHDA did not damage the normal structure of vascular bundle indicated by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. However, the functions of sympathetic nerve was completely inhibited for more than 2 weeks, and only a few function of sympathetic nerve resumed 4 weeks later, evidenced by glyoxylic acid staining and the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and nerve peptide Y (NPY). Thus, 6-OHDA is promising as an ideal reagent for the local denervation of sympathetic nerve from artery system.