Differential effects of electrical stimulation of sciatic nerve on metabolic activity in spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion in the rat.

Electrical stimulation of the proximal stump of the transected sciatic nerve produces a frequency-dependent activation of glucose utilization, measured with the autoradiographic deoxy 14Cglucose method, in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord but produces no change in glucose utilization in the dorsal root ganglion cells. These results suggest that axon terminals and not the cell bodies are the sites of enhanced metabolic activity during increased functional activity of this pathway.