Many ventral root afferent fibers in the cat are third branches of dorsal root ganglion cells

The arrangement of the ventral root afferent fibers was investigated in anesthetized and paralyzed cats. Single unit activity was recorded from a fascicle of the distal stump of the cut S1 dorsal root. Activity was elicited by stimulating the distal stump of the cut S1 ventral root. Attempts were then made to collide this activity with that elicited by stimulation of the S1 spinal nerve. Single unit activity elicited by ventral root stimulation was recorded from a total of 33 axons. In 17 of these, the activity collided with that elicited by peripheral stimulation. These results indicate that more than half the sampled population of ventral root afferent fibers are branches of dorsal root ganglion cells that have at least 3 processes: one in the dorsal root, one in the ventral root and one in a peripheral nerve. In 10 of these units, the conduction velocity of each of 3 processes was determined using the collision technique. The conduction velocities differed in the processes of a given ganglion cell, with conduction in the ventral root process generally being the slowest. The change in conduction velocity along the length of the ventral root was examined by comparing latency differences for the unit activity elicited by ventral root stimulation at different sites in the same root separated by known distances. The conduction velocity was found not to be uniform along the course of the ventral root. In many cases, the conduction velocity slowed down as the fiber approached the spinal cord. We conclude from the present study that many ventral root afferent fibers are the third branches of dorsal root ganglion cells that also have processes in the dorsal root and in a peripheral nerve. The sizes of each of these 3 processes of the dorsal root ganglion cell may differ; the ventral root process tends to be the smallest and is usually unmyelinated. Furthermore, many of the ventral root afferent fibers may taper as they approach the spinal cord.     

Ascending spinal pathway for arterial pressor response elicited by ventral root afferent inputs in the cat

In an attempt to localize the spinal ascending pathway for ventral root afferent inputs, changes in ventral root stimulation-evoked arterial blood pressure responses were observed in anesthetized cats after selective spinal lesions. The results of these experiments indicate that the ascending spinal pathways responsible for the pressor response lie in the dorsal-most part of the lateral funiculus. The pathway was found to be bilateral, and it is likely to occupy the same area throughout the entire length of the spinal cord.     

Proportion and location of spinal neurons receiving ventral root afferent inputs in the cat

Spinal neurons receiving ventral root afferent inputs were investigated in anesthetized and paralyzed cats. We were concerned with the afferent fibers in the ventral root that travel distally and then enter the spinal cord through the dorsal root. The questions to be answered included the proportion and distribution of spinal neurons receiving ventral root afferent inputs and their peripheral input characteristics. The 1.7 ventral root was cut near the spinal cord and the distal stump was stimulated while making a systematic search for neurons in the entire gray matter of the ipsilateral spinal cord that responded to the stimulation. The following conclusions were made: (i) the afferent fibers in the cat ventral root enter the spinal cord through the dorsal root and evoke a variety of responses (excitation, inhibition, or mixed) in a large proportion of spinal neurons (about 20%): (ii) these responses seem to be mediated largely by spinal mechanisms: (iii) spinal neurons receiving ventral root afferent inputs are situated in a wide region of the ventral spinal cord: (iv) ventral root fibers in a single root enter the spinal cord and exert their responses over a large region of the spinal cord (at least two spinal segments rostrally and caudally): (v) some of the spinal neurons that responded to ventral root stimulation were found to be ascending tract cells, suggesting that ventral root afferent inputs can reach supraspinal structures: (vi) ventral root afferent fibers converge onto spinal neurons that have a variety of peripheral receptive field characteristics: and (vii) with some exceptions, most neurons receiving ventral root inputs were excited best by mechanical and/or thermal noxious stimuli applied to the periphery.     

Electrophysiological evidence for afferent nerve fibers in human ventral roots

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that ventral roots in humans contain afferent nerve fibers. We made direct electrophysiological recordings of compound nerve action potentials in dorsal and ventral roots in children undergoing selective dorsal rhizotomy for spastic cerebral palsy. We stimulated the saphenous or sural nerves, which are pure sensory nerves, with electrical stimuli while systematically recording from ventral and dorsal roots from L3 to S2. In addition to the dorsal root nerve action potentials which we expected, we found smaller compound nerve action potentials, which were clearly afferent, in the ventral roots. This confirms the limited amount of experimental evidence that ventral roots do contain some afferent nerve fibers. The functional significance of these observations is not yet clear.     

Electrophysiological evidence for an increase in the number of ventral root afferent fibers after neonatal peripheral neurectomy in the rat

Our recent study has shown that many afferent fibers in the ventral root are third branches of dorsal root ganglion cells in addition to their processes in the peripheral nerve and the dorsal root. From results of this study, we hypothesized that most of the afferent fibers in the normal ventral root are extra processes of certain dorsal root ganglion cells. To accommodate experimental findings by others, we formulated several working hypotheses in the present study as an extension of our previous hypothesis: these afferent processes in the ventral root are of varying length; they end bluntly along the length of the root; and in an event such as peripheral neurectomy in the neonatal stage, these fibers sprout at the blunt endings along the length of the ventral root. We tested the above hypotheses using electrophysiological methods. The sciatic nerve on one side in neonatal rats was cut. After the rat was fully grown, volleys of neural activity were recorded along the length of the ventral root while stimulating the dorsal root of the same segment. There was a great increase in the size of compound action potentials in the ventral root on the sciatic nerve-lesioned side. Various lines of evidence suggest that this enhancement of the evoked potentials is likely to be due to an increase in the number of afferent fibers in the ventral root in response to neonatal peripheral nerve injury. The results are consistent with our hypotheses.     

Spinal control of afferent temperature information in the cat

The picrotoxin effect on background and evoked discharges of interneurons in the superficial laminae of cat dorsal horn was investigated under mechanical and temperature influences on skin receptors. It was shown that information about skin temperature is modulated on the presynaptic level. It is concluded that competitive interaction between fibres of large and small diameters is of certain importance in the transmission of such information.     

Immunoreactive dynorphin B in sacral primary afferent fibers of the cat

Immunocytochemical analysis of the distribution of dynorphin B terminals in the sacral spinal cord of the cat revealed a pattern of staining very similar to that produced with antisera directed against the primary afferent derived, putative neurotransmitter, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Labeled axons and terminals were concentrated in lamina I and V and there was dense fiber staining in the tract of Lissauer. Of particular interest was the presence of immunoreactive axons in attached dorsal rootlets. To specifically focus on the possibility that some of the sacral primary afferent fibers are dynorphin-immunoreactive, we first tried to increase perikaryal labeling in the sacral dorsal root ganglia by topical treatment with colchicine. This did not produce immunoreactive labeling of cell bodies in the ganglia. Unilateral multiple dorsal rhizotomy (L5 to coccygeal 1), however, significantly decreased the staining of dynorphin-immunoreactive axons and terminals in the tract of Lissauer and in the dorsal horn of sacral segments ipsilateral to the deafferentation. No changes were detected in the lumbar cord. Finally, radioimmunoassay of caudal lumbar and sacral dorsal root ganglia was performed. Measurable immunoreactivity was found in all ganglia assayed, but, consistent with the histochemical analysis, sacral ganglia contained the highest concentration of immunoreactive dynorphin B. These data indicate that a significant component of the sacral spinal cord dynorphin terminal immunoreactivity derives from primary afferent fibers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Regrowth of anastomosed ventral root nerve fibers in the dorsal root of rats

The effects of iontophoretically applied norepinephrine (NE) on the dentate gyrus field potential evoked by perforant path stimulation were examined. NE potentiated the population spike by 20-400%, whereas the population EPSP was rarely increased. At 39% of the potentiated sites NE application resulted in long-lasting potentiation (LLP) suggesting a role for NE in long-term hippocampal plasticity.     

Response properties of hypogastric afferent fibers supplying the uterus in the cat

The present study was undertaken to examine the sensory function of uterine afferent fibers in cats at unknown stages of the estrous cycle. Single unit activity was recorded from strands of the hypogastric nerve of the anesthetized cat. Once a unit was found, the conduction velocity was determined and the mechanical receptive field localized on the uterus. The response properties of the unit to mechanical stimuli applied to the receptive field and to chemical stimuli applied by intra-arterial injection of algesic chemicals (bradykinin, KCl and capsaicin) into the uterine artery were studied. Single unit activity from a total of 52 units was examined in this study. Based on the conduction velocities, about2/3 of these fibers were found to be unmyelinated C fibers and the remaining1/3 were thinly myelinated Aδ fibers. The receptive fields of most of these fibers were located at different parts of the uterine horn and body while a few were at the uterine cervix. Mechanical thresholds, as determined by von Frey filaments applied to the external surface of the uterus, varied more than 150-fold among mechanically sensitive units, ranging from extremely low to high thresholds. In addition, most of these afferents were activated by intra-arterially injected algesic chemicals, often by more than one chemical. The data in the present study suggest that a large portion of the cat uterus is innervated by the hypogastric nerve and that these afferents originate from sensory receptors that have potentially a wide range of functions. Their potential functions as low threshold mechanoreceptors and nociceptors are discussed.     

Features of projections of afferent fibers of the ventral roots to neurons of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord in the cat

Some peculiarities of afferent effects from ventral roots on the dorsal horn neurons were investigated in acute experiments on cats. Convergence of afferents from ventral and dorsal roots on the same neurons was shown. Excitation of some ventral root afferents caused inhibition in investigated neurons. This inhibition developed with shorter latency than that from dorsal root afferents.     

Spinal nerve root distribution of the myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers of a cat cutaneous nerve]

The distribution of myelinated and nomyelinated nerve fibres from n. saphenus in the dorsal and ventral roots of the cat spinal cord was investigated, using methods improving the signal-to-noise ratio in the neurogram of the nerve evoked response. Nerve fibres from n. saphneus enter the spinal cord through roots of segments L4-6. In the dorsal roots of these segments the nerve fibres have conduction velocities from 80 to 0.38 m/s. In the ventral roots four groups of the nerve fibres with conduction velocities 80--60, 40--30, 12.0--3.0 and 1.1--0.51 m/s are found that are likely to be afferents. The conditions for low amplitude potentials detection in the spinal cord roots as well as the possible functional significance of the nerve fibres in the ventral roots are discussed.     

Differences in routing of pelvic visceral afferent fibers in the dog and cat

Averaged evoked potentials were recorded after stimulation of nerve fibers to the pelvic viscera in nine dogs and six cats. Bladder visceral afferent fibers reach the spinal cord via pelvic nerves and hypogastric nerves in both dog and cat. However, only hypogastric neural activity is relayed by the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in the dog, whereas both hypogastric and pelvic neural activity are relayed by the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in the cat. Neural activity from the urethra, rectum, and genitalia ascends to the cord by the pelvic nerve and then is relayed by the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in both dog and cat.     

Central projection of nuchal group I muscle afferent fibers of the cat

To investigate the central projection of nuchal group I afferent fibers of nerves which supply the complexus (COM), biventer cervicis (BIV), splenius (SP), and occipitoscapularis (OCC) muscles, experiments were conducted on cats anesthetized with chloralose-urethane. A total of 246 neurons was found to respond to electrical stimulation of those nerves. Of these neurons, 99.2% were located in the ipsilateral external cuneate nucleus (ECN) and 0.8% in the ipsilateral main cuneate nucleus. Ninety-seven neurons responded only to the BIV, 88 neurons only to the SP, and 56 neurons to the OCC alone. The number of monosynaptically activated neurons from group I fibers were found to be 26 in 97 neurons which responded to the BIV, 20 in 88 neurons responded to the SP, and 8 in 56 neurons which responded to the OCC. The ECN contains these neurons organized in a somatotopic manner. Neurons from distal muscle (the OCC) project to medial parts and from proximal muscle (the BIV) to more lateral parts of the nucleus. Forty-three of the 143 neurons in the ECN (30.1%) were activated antidromically to electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral inferior peduncle and anterior lobules IV and V of the cerebellum. Thalamic responses from nuchal muscle afferent fibers were recorded in a very narrow region of nucleus ventralis posterolateralis (VPL) which is situated dorsolaterally to the forelimb muscle afferent (deep radial nerve) projection area. The cortical evoked potentials from these nerve stimulations were observed in the anterior suprasylvian gyrus, areas 2 or 5, which we regarded as a transitional area between the second somatosensory and association areas, and the postcruciate dimple (PCD) or area 3a. Cortical potentials in the PCD were reduced after lesion of the VPL, where the focal potentials evoked by nuchal muscle afferent stimulation were recorded.     

Unmyelinated primary afferent fibers in dorsal funiculi of cat sacral spinal cord

The present study tests the hypothesis that there are numerous unmyelinated primary afferent fibers in cat posterior funiculi. The animals have unilateral dorsal rhizotomies from L6 to Ca3. One week later the axons of both S2 dorsal funiculi are counted. The data indicate that there are approximately 22,500 myelinated and 8,500 unmyelinated axons on the unoperated side and 11,000 myelinated and 3,900 unmyelinated axons on the operated side. On this basis, we suggest that 51% of the myelinated and 54% of the unmyelinated axons in cat dorsal funiculi arise from dorsal root ganglion cells and thus are primary afferent axons. If this is correct, then 71% of the primary afferent axons in the cat dorsal funiculus are myelinated and 29% are unmyelinated. The function of this large group of previously unsuspected fine sensory axons remains to be determined.