[Spinal neurotransmitters: chemical neuroanatomy of the human spinal cord and the cultured sensory neurons of the adult rat].

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the advantages of immunocytochemical studies of spinal neurotransmitters in human pathology and in animal experiments the distribution of transmitters, mainly of neuropeptides in the human spinal cord is summarized. Data obtained on pathological material are able to determine the origin of certain peptidergic afferents to the spinal cord and suggest that the early selective disappearance of substance P-fibers plays a role in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Transmitter immunocytochemistry is useful for assessing the plasticity of spinal neurons in chemically induced degeneration of the gray matter and in a model of spinal cord trauma. Finally, a newly developed culture system of adult rat and human dorsal root ganglia demonstrates that the phenotypic expression of neurotransmitters can be modulated experimentally, which offers new perspectives for studying their neurobiological role and for the tentative repair of central nervous system lesions by autografts.