Locations and Innervation of Cell Bodies of Sympathetic Neurons Projecting to the Gastrointestinal Tract in the Rat.

Abstract

The locations of cell bodies of sympathetic neurons projecting to the stomach, the duodenum, the ileum, the colon, the spleen and the pancreas have been studied using retrograde tracing. Projections arose from both pre- and paravertebral ganglia. In the rat, the prevertebral ganglia are the paired coeliac ganglia lying caudo-lateral to the root of the coeliac artery, paired splanchnic ganglia in the abdominal segments of the greater splanchnic nerves, unpaired superior mesenteric and inter-renal ganglia and the inferior mesenteric ganglia. The projections from the prevertebral sympathetic ganglia to the different parts of the gut were organised somatotopically. The most rostral ganglia (splanchnic, coeliac, and superior mesenteric ganglia) contained neurons innervating all regions of the gastrointestinal tract, the pancreas and the spleen. The inter-renal and inferior mesenteric ganglia, located more caudally, contained neurons innervating the distal part of the gut (distal ileum and colon). The innervation of the spleen and the pancreas came from the closest ganglia (sympathetic chains, splanchnic and coeliac ganglia). This organotopic organisation was not found in the sympathetic chain ganglia; the innervation of all organs came predominantly from the lower part of the thoracic chains. A large proportion of the retrogradely labelled nerve cells in the splanchnic ganglia received nitric oxide synthase immunoreactive innervation probably from the spinal cord. In the other prevertebral ganglia, most of the neurons received nitric oxide synthase immunoreactive innervation and/or bombesin immunoreactive innervation. This leads to the conclusion that, in these ganglia, many neurons receive projections from the gastrointestinal tract in addition to the spinal cord.

Heterogeneous Requirement of NGF for Sympathetic Target InnervationIn Vivo

“…Sympathetic axons extend along the lienal artery but fail to enter spleen parenchyma in the absence of NGF with concomitant elimination of Bax Another organ innervated by prevertebral ganglion sympathetic neurons is the spleen, which in rodents receives most of its sympathetic innervation from the celiac ganglion, with a minor contribution from the lower thoracic paravertebral sympathetic chain ganglia (Chevendra et al, 1991;Quinson et al, 2001). In contrast to other prevertebral ganglion targets described above, which showed a reduction in sympathetic innervation but not a complete elimination of sympathetic axons in the organs themselves, the spleen displayed a remarkable phenotype.…”

Splanchnic Circulation Is a Critical Neural Target in Angiotensin II Salt Hypertension in Rats

“…Approximately 95% of sympathetic postganglionic neurons innervating this vascular bed in the rat have their cell bodies in the celiac and superior mesenteric ganglia. [12][13][14] …”

“…Approximately 95% of sympathetic postganglionic neurons innervating this vascular bed in the rat have their cell bodies in the celiac and superior mesenteric ganglia. [12][13][14] These 2 ganglia are fused in the rat and are commonly referred to as the celiac or solar plexus. 15 We used surgical ablation of this plexus (celiac ganglionectomy [CGx]) to investigate our hypothesis.…”

Characterization of T9–T10 spinal neurons with duodenal input and modulation by gastric electrical stimulation in rats

“…Viscerotopic organization of the spinal sensory innervation of the duodenum is slightly different in various animal species, but in general the innervation extends from segments T2-L3, with the peak innervation occurring between segments T9 and L1 (Khurana and Petras, 1991;El Ouazzani and Mei, 1978;Hazarika et al 1964;Cottrell and Greenhorn, 1987;DeLeo et al, 1991;Quinson et al 2001). Furthermore, anatomical studies indicate variable degrees of overlap in sensory projections from both the stomach and duodenum to spinal ganglia and segments.…”

“…In general, it is believed that vagal afferents from the duodenum may play a role in conveying digestive information, such as absorption, secretion, and storage; whereas, nociceptive information mainly travels via the splanchnic sympathetic afferent nerves to the spinal cord. Anatomic studies have shown that splanchnic afferent fibers from the duodenum mainly project to the caudal thoracic and upper lumbar spinal cord in various species (Cottrell and Greenhorn 1987;DeLeo et al 1991;El Ouazzani and Mei, 1978;Hazarika et al 1964;Khurana and Petras 1991;Quinson et al 2001). However, to the best of our knowledge, no electrophysiological study has been done to examine the activity of spinal neurons receiving duodenal afferent input.…”