Pilocarpine-induced Salivation and Thirst in Conscious Rats

The muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine is widely used as a sialogogue. It has been well-established that it also induces water intake in animals. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between these events are unknown. To address this problem, we examined water intake and parotid salivary secretion in conscious rats. Intraperitoneally injected pilocarpine increased both water intake and salivary secretion. Intracerebroventricularly injected pilocarpine also induced water intake, but not salivary secretion. Intracerebroventricularly applied atropine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, suppressed the water intake produced by pilocarpine applied intraperitoneally and intracerebroventricularly. However, it did not affect the salivary secretion induced by pilocarpine applied peripherally. We conclude that peripherally applied pilocarpine affects the parotid glands and the thirst center in the central nervous system, while it may induce salivary secretion mainly via peripheral responses, but water intake mainly via the central nervous system.

[1]  K. Ono,et al.  Central nicotinic stimulation reduces vascular conductance in the gingiva in anesthetized rats. , 2005, Journal of periodontal research.

[2]  D. Ericson,et al.  Oral Pilocarpine for Treatment of Opioid-induced Oral Dryness in Healthy Adults , 2004, Journal of dental research.

[3]  K. Ono,et al.  Diversity of the muscarinic and nicotinic responses of subfornical organ neurons in rat slice preparations , 2004, Neuroscience Letters.

[4]  C. Marsden,et al.  Assessment of the muscarinic receptor subtype involved in the mediation of pilocarpine-induced purposeless chewing behaviour , 2004, Psychopharmacology.

[5]  J. Menani,et al.  Central Muscarinic Receptors Signal Pilocarpine-induced Salivation , 2003, Journal of dental research.

[6]  H. Kawano,et al.  Activation of Muscarinic Receptors in Rat Subfornical Organ Neurones , 2003, Journal of neuroendocrinology.

[7]  H. Kusama,et al.  Effects of Pilocarpine Hydrochloride and Cevimeline on Submandibular/ Sublingual Salivation in Rat Xerostomia Model Produced by X-Ray Irradiation , 2003, Arzneimittelforschung.

[8]  J. Menani,et al.  Lesions of the lateral hypothalamus impair pilocarpine-induced salivation in rats , 2002, Brain Research Bulletin.

[9]  J. Menani,et al.  Inhibition of pilocarpine-induced salivation in rats by central noradrenaline. , 2002, Archives of oral biology.

[10]  K. Ono,et al.  Noncholinergic actions of atropine on GABAergic synaptic transmission in the subfornical organ of rat slice preparations. , 2002, Toxicology and applied pharmacology.

[11]  K. Inenaga,et al.  Suppression of reflex saliva from rat parotid gland following intracerebroventricular injection of hypertonic NaCl and sucrose. , 2002, Archives of oral biology.

[12]  K. Ono,et al.  Muscarinic modulation of GABAergic transmission to neurons in the rat subfornical organ. , 2001, American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.

[13]  K. Inenaga,et al.  The effect of food consistency and dehydration on reflex parotid and submandibular salivary secretion in conscious rats. , 2001, Archives of oral biology.

[14]  B. Oldfield,et al.  Efferent connections of the lamina terminalis, the preoptic area and the insular cortex to submandibular and sublingual gland of the rat traced with pseudorabies virus , 1998, Brain Research.

[15]  L. Sreebny,et al.  A reference guide to drugs and dry mouth--2nd edition. , 1997, Gerodontology.

[16]  J. Menani,et al.  Involvement of the Central Nervous System in the Salivary Secretion Induced by Pilocarpine in Rats , 1993, Journal of dental research.

[17]  K. Kanosue,et al.  Modes of action of local hypothalamic and skin thermal stimulation on salivary secretion in rats. , 1990, The Journal of physiology.

[18]  L. Sreebny,et al.  A reference guide to drugs and dry mouth. , 1986, Gerodontology.

[19]  M. Fregly,et al.  Antidipsogenic effect of clonidine on angiotensin II-, hypertonic saline-, pilocarpine- and dehydration-induced water intakes , 1981, Brain Research Bulletin.

[20]  M. Fregly.  Attenuation of Pilocarpine-Induced Drinking By Chronic Treatment with Estrogens 1 , 1980, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

[21]  H. Venkatakrishna-Bhatt,et al.  SLEEP INDUCED BY DRUGS INJECTED INTO THE INFERIOR HORN OF THE LATERAL CEREBRAL VENTRICLE IN DOGS , 1977, British journal of pharmacology.