Release, spread and persistence of immunoreactive neurokinin A in the dorsal horn of the cat following noxious cutaneous stimulation. Studies with antibody microprobes

In barbiturate anaesthetized spinal cats antibody microprobes were used to examine release of immunoreactive neurokinin A following cutaneous thermal and mechanical stimulation. In the absence of peripheral stimuli, microprobes detected a diffuse basal presence of immunoreactive neurokinin A. Noxious mechanical and to a lesser extent noxious thermal stimuli increased the levels of immunoreactive neurokinin A diffusely throughout the dorsal horn which, in many cases, spread into the adjacent white matter. These diffuse stimulus-evoked increases contrast with previous experiments where the same stimuli produced discrete focal increases in levels of immunoreactive substance P. Evidence was obtained that released immunoreactive neurokinin A persisted in the spinal cord for at least 30 min beyond the period of stimulation. Neurokinin A needs consideration as the agent responsible for the long-lasting increases in excitability of some spinal neurons found by several laboratories to follow a brief input from unmyelinated primary afferents.