ORIGINAL PAPER Peripheral Vagus Nerve Stimulation Significantly Affects Lipid Composition and Protein Secondary Structure Within Dopamine- Related Brain Regions in Rats

Abstract Recent immunohistochemical studies point to the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve as the point of departure of initial changes which are related to the gradual pathological developments in the dopaminergic system. In the light of current investigations, it is likely that bio-chemical changes within the peripheral nervous system may influence the physiology of the dopaminergic system, sug-gesting a putative role for it in the development of neu-rodegenerative disorders. By using Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, coupled with statistical analy-sis, we examined the effect of chronic, unilateral electrical vagus nerve stimulation on changes in lipid composition and in protein secondary structure within dopamine-related brain structures in rats. It was found that the chronic vagal nerve stimulation strongly affects the chain length of fatty acid