Dorsal root activity evoked by stimulation of vagina-cervix-uterus junction in the rat

In the present study, we characterized the evoked electrical activity from T(13) to S(2) dorsal roots (DRs) during glass probe-stimulation of the vagina-cervix-uterus junction (VCUJ) of female Wistar rats. The results showed that gentle stimulation of VCUJ evoked high-amplitude electrical activity in L(3) and L(6) DRs. Hypogastric or pelvic nerve transection failed to abolish this activity. L(6)-S(1) spinal trunk transection abolished the high-amplitude electrical activity evoked in L(6) DR, while transection of the lumbosacral trunk blocked the high-amplitude electrical activity evoked in L(3) DR. These data suggest that during copulation, penile intromission likely activates the low-threshold sensory receptors of the VCUJ, thereby evoking sensory neural activity that enters the spinal cord via L(3) and L(6) dorsal roots, whose axons travel through the lumbosacral trunk and pudendal nerve.