Abstract
Penile reflexes (PRs) were monitored in chronic spinal cord-transected rats by identifying them visually, and at the same time they were recorded as the electromyographic activity of bulbospongiosus muscles. Intraperitoneal injection of the agonist muscarine (10 μg) produced a facilitation of PRs. A decrease in the latency, an increase in the number of clusters and often an increase in the duration of cups were found after muscarine. In addition, 66% (six out of nine) of the animals ejaculated after muscarine. These results suggest that cholinergic receptor stimulation may be involved in erectile and ejaculatory mechanisms mediated by the spinal cord.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 8 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $32.38 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Guttman L, Walsh JJ . Prostigmin assessment test of fertility in spinal man. Paraplegia 1970; 9: 39–43.
Chapelle PA, Blanquart F, Puech AJ, Hold JP . Treatment of an ejaculation in the total paraplegic by subcutaneous injections of physostigmine. Paraplegia 1983; 21: 30–36.
Durán I, Gil L, Cueva-Rolón R . Masculine copulatory behavior is facilitated by intrathecally administered muscarine. Exp Brain Res 2000; 134: 490–496.
Bors E, Comars E . Neurological disturbances of sexual function with special reference to 529 patients with spinal cord injury. Urol Surv 1960; 10: 191–204.
Gil L, Gómez LE, Durán I, Cueva-Rolón R . Muscarinic mediation of the urethro genital reflex in spinal cord-transected rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2000; 67: 215–223.
Chung SK, McVary KT, McKenna KE . Sexual reflexes in male and female rats. Neurosci Lett 94; 343–348: 1988.
McKenna KE, Chung KS, McVary KT . A model for the study of sexual function in anesthetized male and female rats. Am J Physiol 1991; 261: R1276–R1285.
Zeitlin AB, Cottrell TL, Lloyd FA . Sexology of the paraplegic male. Fertil Steril 1957; 8: 337–344.
Hart BL . Sexual reflexes and mating behavior in the male rat. J Comp Phys Psychol 1968; 65: 453–460.
Hart BL . Sexual reflexes and sexual behavior in the male dog. J Comp Phys Psychol 1967; 64: 388–399.
Bacq ZM . Impotence of the male rodent after sympathetic denervation of the genital organs. Am J Physiol 1931; 96: 321–330.
Dusser de Barenne JG, Koskoff YO . Flexor rigidity of the hind legs and priapism in the secondary spinal preparation of the male cat. Am J Physiol 1932; 102: 75–86.
Kurtz RG, Santos R . Supraspinal influence on the penile reflexes of the male rat: a comparison of the effects of copulation, spinal transection and cortical spreading depression. Horm Behav 1979; 12: 73–94.
Komisaruk BR et al. Brain-mediated responses to vaginocervical stimulation in spinal cord-transected rats: role of the vagus nerves. Brain Res 1996; 708: 128–134.
Gómez LE, Ortega C, Durán I, Cueva-Rolón R . Neural mechanisms accounting for the increase in blood pressure and heart rate during vaginocervical stimulation. J Auton Nerv Syst 1996; 60: 154–162.
Gómez LE, Delgado-Lezama R, Durán I, Cueva-Rolón R . Cholinergic modulation of the urethro genital reflex in spinal cord-transected rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, (submitted for publication).
Holmes GM, Chapple WD, Leipheimer RE, Sachs BD . Electromyographic analysis of male rat perineal muscles during copulation and reflexive erections. Physiol Behav 1991; 49: 1235–1246.
Durán I, Rojas-Piloni JG, Cueva-Rolón R . Facilitation and inhibition of the urethrogenital reflex in spinal cord-transected rats. Brain Res 1997; 775: 1–10.
Sachs BD, Garinello LD . Interaction between penile reflexes and copulation in male rats. J Comp Physiol Psychol 1978; 4: 759–767.
Pollak EI, Sachs BD . Penile movements and the sensory control of copulation in the rat. Behav Biol 1976; 17: 177–186.
Hsieh JT et al. An experimental model to evaluate the in vivo response of rat seminal vesicle to electrical stimulation. Neurosci Lett 1996; 204: 215–217.
Fedan JS, Besse JC, Carpenter FG, Teague RS . Motor innervation of the smooth muscle of the rat seminal vesicle. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1997; 201: 285–297.
Hib J, Ponzio R, Vilar O . Effects of autonomic drugs on contractions of rat seminal vesicles in vivo. J Reprod Fertil 1984; 70: 197–202.
Sachs BD, Garinello LD . Spinal pacemaker controlling sexual reflexes in male rats. Brain Res 1979; 171: 152–156.
Sachs BD . Role of striated penile muscles in penile reflexes, copulation and induction of pregnancy in the rat. J Reprod Fertil 1982; 66: 433–443.
Sherriff FE, Henderson ZA . A cholinergic propriospinal innervation of the rat spinal cord. Brain Res 1994; 634: 150–154.
Villiger JW, Faull RL . Muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the human spinal cord: Differential localization of [3H]pirenzepine and [3H]quinuclidinylbenzilate binding sites. Brain Res 1985; 345: 196–199.
Höglund AU, Baghdoyan HA . M2, M3 and M4, but not M1, muscarinic receptor subtypes are present in rat spinal cord. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1997; 281: 470–477.
Yung KKL, Lo YL . Immunocytochemical localization of muscarinic m2 receptor in the rat spinal cord. Neurosci Lett 1997; 229: 81–84.
Barber RP et al. The morphology and distribution of neurons containing choline acetyltransferase in the adult rat spinal cord: an immunocytochemical study. J Comp Neurol 1984; 229: 329–346.
Woolf NJ . Cholinergic systems in mammalian brain and spinal cord. Prog Neurobiol 1991; 37: 475–524.
Meisel RL, Sachs BD . The physiology of male sexual behavior. In: Knobil E, Neill JD (eds) The Physiology of Reproduction. Raven Press: New York, 1994, pp 3–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vargas, V., Torres, D., Corona, F. et al. Cholinergic facilitation of erection and ejaculation in spinal cord-transected rats. Int J Impot Res 16, 86–90 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901169
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901169
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Treatment of Delayed Ejaculation
Current Sexual Health Reports (2020)
-
Ocimum gratissimum Linn. Leaves reduce the key enzymes activities relevant to erectile dysfunction in isolated penile and testicular tissues of rats
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2019)
-
Reflex erection in the rat: reciprocal interplay between hemodynamic and somatic events
BMC Urology (2018)
-
Depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia
International Urology and Nephrology (2015)
-
Genital and heart rate response to erotic stimulation in men with and without premature ejaculation
International Journal of Impotence Research (2010)