title: Central origin of vagal nerve fibres innervating the fundus and corpus of the stomach in rat.
abstract: The origin of vagal nerve fibres innervating the anterior and posterior walls of the fundus and corpus of the rat stomach was investigated using the axon tracing dye, Fast blue. The secretomotor nerve supply to the rat stomach was predominantly ipsilateral. A large majority (98-99%) of the vagal perikarya innervating the anterior fundus and corpus were located on the left side of the brainstem. A large majority (96-99%) of the vagal perikarya innervating the posterior fundus and corpus were located on the right side. Vagal perikarya were arranged in longitudinal, dorsal cell columns which extended beyond the normally accepted cytoarchitectural limits of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). A few vagal cells innervating the fundus were also found in the nucleus ambiguus. Vagal cell columns innervating the anterior and posterior fundus extended rostrocaudally over a distance of up to 4 mm and projected caudally as far as the cervical spinal cord. Vagal cell columns innervating the anterior and posterior corpus were more compact, extended over a distance of 2-3 mm, and projected rostrally as far as the inferior salivatory nucleus of the glossopharyngeal nerves. Vagal cell columns for the fundus and corpus overlapped in the region of the DMV which lay immediately ventral to the area postrema. Between one-third to one-half of the vagal cells innervating the fundus and corpus were concentrated under the area postrema. A simple form of viscerotopic organisation appears to occur within the vagal cell columns innervating the fundus and corpus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, London Hospital Medical College, U.K.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Ewart
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005748:Gastric Fundus / Q000166:cytology / Q000294:innervation*; D006652:Histological Techniques; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012249:Rhombencephalon / Q000166:cytology; D013270:Stomach / Q000166:cytology / Q000294:innervation*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes