Sun HZ, Li CY, Shi Y, Li JJ, Wang YY, Han LN, Zhu LJ, Zhang YF. Effect of exogenous hydrogen sulfide in the nucleus tractus solitarius on gastric motility in rats. World J Gastroenterol 2023; 29(29): 4557-4570 [PMID: 37621756 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i29.4557]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hong-Zhao Sun, PhD, Professor, College of Life Science, Qi Lu Normal University, No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu 250200, Shandong Province, China. sunhongzhao18@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Basic Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Hong-Zhao Sun, Chen-Yu Li, Yuan Shi, Jin-Jin Li, Yi-Ya Wang, Li-Na Han, Lu-Jie Zhu, Ya-Fei Zhang, College of Life Science, Qi Lu Normal University, Zhangqiu 250200, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Sun HZ and Li CY contributed equally to this work; Sun HZ conceived and designed the experiments; Li CY, Shi Y, Li JJ, Wang YY, Han LN, Zhu LJ, and Zhang YF performed the experiments; Sun HZ and Li CY analyzed the data; Sun HZ provided reagents/materials/analysis tools; Li CY authored the paper; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported bythe Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, No. ZR2019MC020.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Qi Lu Normal University (Approval No. 14276).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hong-Zhao Sun, PhD, Professor, College of Life Science, Qi Lu Normal University, No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu 250200, Shandong Province, China. sunhongzhao18@126.com
Received: May 18, 2023 Peer-review started: May 18, 2023 First decision: June 20, 2023 Revised: June 29, 2023 Accepted: July 19, 2023 Article in press: July 19, 2023 Published online: August 7, 2023 Processing time: 75 Days and 23.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a recently discovered gaseous neurotransmitter in the nervous and gastrointestinal systems. It exerts its effects through multiple signaling pathways, impacting various physiological activities. The nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), a vital nucleus involved in visceral sensation, was investigated in this study to understand the role of H2S in regulating gastric function in rats.
AIM
To examine whether H2S affects the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 pathways and the neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptor in the NTS.
METHODS
Immunohistochemical and fluorescent double-labeling techniques were employed to identify cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) and c-Fos co-expressed positive neurons in the NTS during rat stress. Gastric motility curves were recorded by inserting a pressure-sensing balloon into the pylorus through the stomach fundus. Changes in gastric motility were observed before and after injecting different doses of NaHS (4 nmol and 8 nmol), physiological saline, Capsazepine (4 nmol) + NaHS (4 nmol), pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, 4 nmol) + NaHS (4 nmol), and L703606 (4 nmol) + NaHS (4 nmol).
RESULTS
We identified a significant increase in the co-expression of c-Fos and CBS positive neurons in the NTS after 1 h and 3 h of restraint water-immersion stress compared to the expressions observed in the control group. Intra-NTS injection of NaHS at different doses significantly inhibited gastric motility in rats (P < 0.01). However, injection of saline, first injection NF-κB inhibitor PDTC or transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) antagonist Capsazepine or NK1 receptor blockers L703606 and then injection NaHS did not produce significant changes (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION
NTS contains neurons co-expressing CBS and c-Fos, and the injection of NaHS into the NTS can suppress gastric motility in rats. This effect may be mediated by activating TRPV1 and NK1 receptors via the NF-κB channel.
Core Tip: This study revealed a significant inhibitory effect of exogenous hydrogen sulfide on gastric motility in rats. This effect appeared to involve the release of substance P, potentially activating the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 pathway mediated by nuclear factor kappa-B channels.
