The stellate ganglia are the predominant source of sympathetic innervation to the heart. Remodeling of sympathetic nerves projecting to the heart has been observed in several
cardiovascular diseases, and sympathetic dysfunction contributes to cardiac pathology. Wistar Kyoto rats are a common model for the study of
cardiovascular diseases, but we lack a profile of the baseline transcriptomic and neurochemical characteristics of their cardiac sympathetic neurons. Most studies of
cardiovascular disease have used male animals only, but in the future both male and female animals will be used for these types of studies; therefore, we sought to characterize the transcriptome of male and female stellate ganglia and to correlate that with
catecholamine and
acetylcholine content in the heart. We have generated a dataset of baseline
RNA expression in male and female Wistar Kyoto rat stellate ganglia using
RNA-seq, and have measured
neurotransmitter levels in heart and stellate ganglia using HPLC and mass spectrometry. We identified numerous gene expression differences between male and female stellates, including genes encoding important developmental factors, receptors and
neuropeptides. Female hearts had significantly higher
neurotransmitter content than male hearts; however, no significant differences were detected in expression of the genes encoding
neurotransmitter synthetic
enzymes. Similarly, no statistically significant differences were identified between the sexes in cardiac
tyrosine hydroxylase levels.