AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 242, Issue 3 237-R243, Copyright © 1982 by American Physiological Society
Peripheral neural input to neurons of the stellate ganglion in dog
Z. J. Bosnjak, J. L. Seagard and J. P. Kampine
In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted on the stellate ganglion (SG)
of the dog by recording action potentials from its nerves and its neurons.
For in vitro preparations, the SG and its nerve trunks were dissected from
the animal and secured in an organ bath. Peripheral input to the SG was
produced by electrical stimulation of the ventral ansa subclavia (VA),
dorsal ansa subclavia (DA), and stellate cardiac nerve (SC) in 15 ganglion
preparations studied in vitro. Electrical stimulation of the VA elicited
action potentials recorded at the DA. This conducting pathway did not
involve direct anatomic continuity, since the evoked potentials were
blocked by injection of hexamethonium chloride into the SG. Most neurons in
the SG received synaptic input from fibers of both central and peripheral
origin. In 12 in vivo preparations, all nerves to the SG except the VA were
cut. When peripheral sympathetic afferent input to the SG was increased,
some of the postganglionic fibers of the dissected DA exhibited an increase
in efferent nerve discharge. This response was also blocked by
hexamethonium chloride. These results indicate that some of the functions
of the SG might be independent of the central nervous system.
