Origin of the adrenergic nerve fibers in the subdiaphragmatic vagus in the dog.
The vagi at the subdiaphragmatic level were studied by the Hillarp-Falck technic in combination with a nerve crush procedure in three normal dogs and in eight dogs that had undergone previous surgical excision of the superior cervical ganglion and/or the stellate ganglia. Unilateral ganglionectomies were performed so that the contralateral vagus served as a control. Based on these results, it is concluded that: (1) the subdiaphragmatic canine vagus contains numerous adrenergic nerve fibers; (2) the main portion of these vagal adrenergic fibers arises from the stellate ganglia; and (3) removal of both the stellate and the superior cervical ganglia results in nearly  complete adrenergic denervation of the abdominal vagus.
D000320:Adrenergic Fibers / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D004947:Esophagus / Q000294:innervation*; D005725:Ganglia, Autonomic / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000601:surgery; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009409:Nerve Crush; D013233:Stellate Ganglion / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology*