Distribution and origin of corticotropin-releasing factor-immunoreactive axons in the female rat lumbosacral spinal cord.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is a neuropeptide traditionally known for its hormonal role in the hypothalamic/pituitary/adrenal stress axis. However, CRF has been reported in axons in sites that may be considered outside of the direct stress axis, e.g., in axons in the lumbosacral spinal cord associated with the micturition response. Whether any of these CRF-immunoreactive axons interacts with uterine-related preganglionic autonomic neurons or projection neurons in the lumbosacral spinal cord is unknown. Thus, immunohistochemistry and retrograde tracing were employed to determine the presence, distribution, and origin of CRF-immunoreactive axons in the L6/S1 spinal cord of the female rat and to ascertain whether these axons are associated with uterine-related neurons. CRF-immunoreactive axons were present in the dorsal horn, medial and lateral collateral pathways, dorsal intermediate gray, laminae VlI and X, and sacral parasympathetic nucleus of the spinal cord. Nitric oxide-synthesizing, i.e., NADPH-d-positive neurons and pseudorabies virus labeled uterine-related neurons were in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus and were closely apposed by CRF-immunoreactive axons. Injection of retrograde tracers (fluorogold or fast blue) into the L6/S1 spinal cord labeled neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and pontine Barrington's nucleus, and some of these neurons were immunoreactive for CRF. This study demonstrates that CRF-immunoreactive axons are present in the L6/S1 spinal cord of the female rat in areas associated with sensory and autonomic processing. Some of these axons originate from the paraventricular nucleus and Barrington's nucleus and are adjacent to uterine-related neurons. These results indicate that CRF may influence neural activity related to the female reproductive system. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.