Afferent innervation of the lower esophageal sphincter of the cat. Pathways and functional characteristics.
The sensory vagal and 'sympathetic' innervation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) has been investigated in cats using both electrophysiological and histochemical techniques. Histochemical studies produced evidence that 'sympathetic' afferents run in: (i) the splanchnic nerves; (ii) the sympathetic thoracic nerves; and (iii) the sympathetic cardiac branch. Electrophysiological studies allowed us to describe different kinds of LES receptors: (i) mucosal vagal receptors acting as rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors or as slowly adapting chemoreceptors; (ii) vagal and 'sympathetic' endings located in the muscular layers, adapting slowly and mainly activated by LES contractions; and (iii) vagal and 'sympathetic' endings located in the serous membrane behaving as rapidly adapting receptors sensitive to stretching.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004947:Esophagus / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000294:innervation; D009475:Neurons, Afferent; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013153:Splanchnic Nerves / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology*