title: Somatotopic distribution of corneal afferent neurons in the guinea pig trigeminal ganglion.
abstract: The size and somatotopic distribution of corneal afferent neurons in the guinea pig trigeminal ganglion were determined using a retrograde axonal tracing technique. Wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) was applied to the central cornea of the guinea pig and the animals were perfusion-fixed 48 h later. In addition, a preliminary study examined corneal afferent neurons in two animals latently infected with the herpes simplex virus by corneal inoculation. The majority of WGA-HRP-labelled neurons were located in the ophthalmic division of the ipsilateral ganglion. A clear dorsoventral somatotopic arrangement of labelled corneal afferent neurons was noted. The size of the neurons averaged 23 microns and the number of cells per ganglion averaged 205. By contrast, the number of labelled neurons in latently infected ganglia averaged less than 50. No size or morphological distinctions could be made between neurons from uninfected or latently infected ganglia. The results of this study have provided for the first time the precise location and somata diameter of primary afferent corneal neurons within the guinea pig trigeminal ganglion.
authors.affiliation: Christ Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Bubel
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Wander
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Tierney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003315:Cornea / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D007635:Keratitis, Dendritic / Q000473:pathology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000166:cytology*; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins
chemical_list: D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase