Qualitative Light and Electron Microscope Study of Glutamate Receptors in the Caudal Spinal Trigeminal Nucleus of the Rat

Though ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors have recently been recognized to play important roles in the transmission of orofacial nociceptive impulses, their detailed distribution in the spinal trigeminal nucleus has not been systematically investigated. There is also controversy regarding the electron microscope localization of metabotropic receptors. We therefore undertook this investigation to address the above-mentioned issues in the caudal part of the spinal trigeminal nucleus, using light and electron microscope immunocytochemistry, to provide baseline information for the development of agonists and antagonists of these receptors in the clinical treatment of orofacial pain. The results showed some moderately to strongly stained glutamate receptor 1 neurons, and many strongly stained glutamate receptor 2/3 neurons in lamina II of the nucleus, suggesting that the latter may play an important role in orofacial pain processing, with the former playing a minor role. The metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 immunoreactive product was localized mostly in dendrites, while most of the metabotropic glutamate receptors 2/3 immunoreactive product was deposited in axon terminals containing synaptic vesicles of different shapes, suggesting that glutamate receptors 2/3 may control the release of both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.