Neuropeptides in the Spinal Cord

List of contributors. Preface. Section I - Neuropeptides: Distribution and Plasticity. 1. Peptides in motoneurons. 2. The peptidergic innervation of spinal motoneurons via the bulbospinal 5-hydroxytryptamine pathway. 3. Organization of peptidergic neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord: anatomical and functional correlates. 4. Peptidergic neurons in the vertebrate spinal cord: evolutionary trends. Section II - Neuropeptide Receptors. 5. Opioid receptors in the superficial layers of the rat spinal cord: functional implications in pain processing. 6. Tachykinin receptors in the spinal cord. Section III - Neuropeptide Processing and Degrading Enzymes. 7. Neuropeptide converting and processing enzymes in the spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid. 8. Inactivation of neuropeptides. Section IV - Physiology and Pharmacology in the Spinal Cord. 9. Spinal cord tachykinins in micturition reflex. 10. Neuropeptides in morphologically and functionally identified primary afferent neurones in dorsal root ganglia: substance P, CGRP and somatostatin. 11. Electrophysiology of neuropeptides in the sensory spinal cord. 12. Release of neuropeptides in the spinal cord. 13. Interaction of neuropeptides and excitatory amino acids in the rat superficial spinal dorsal horn. 14. Peptidergic afferents: physiological aspects. 15. Neuropeptides and spinal cord reflexes. 16. Proto-oncogenes: basic concepts and stimulation-induced changes in the spinal cord. 17. Immediate-early genes (IEGs) encoding for inducible transcription factors (ITFs) and neuropeptides in the nervous system: functional network for longterm plasticity and pain. Section V - Pathophysiological Role of Neuropeptides in the Spinal Cord. 18. Neuropeptides in neuroblastomas and ganglioneuromas. 19. Effects of ankle joint inflammation on the proportion of CGRP immunopositive perikarya in dorsal root ganglia. 20. Regulation of spinal neuropeptide genes in a rat model of peripheral inflammation and hyperalgesia. 21. Prostaglandin-induced neuropeptide release from spinal cord. 22. The opioid receptor antagonist naloxone influences the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury. 23. Influence of dynorphin-A antibodies on the formation of edema and cell changes in spinal cord trauma. Subject index.