Hemilingual spasm: Pathophysiology

In the present offering, the authors provide evidence for the role of the hypoglossal motonucleus in causing a cranial nerve hyperactivity syndrome, namely hemilingual spasm. During a microvascular decompression operation to treat hemilingual spasm, transcranial stimulation elicited a delayed electromyographic (EMG) response from the tongue. This late volley of EMG activity occurred with a latency of approximately 40 ms, lasted approximately 50 ms, and disappeared when the offending vessel was displaced away from the exit zone of the hypoglossal nerve root along medulla oblongata. This late tongue EMG response resembles those found in facial muscles of the patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS). In HFS, electrical stimulation of a branch of facial nerve may elicit an EMG response with a latency of approximately 10 ms in muscles innervated by another branch of the nerve, followed by a variable volley of EMG activity that may last 100 ms or longer. This abnormal response, known as the lateral spread response, is a characteristic sign for hemifacial spasm that disappears after the offending vessel is moved off the facial nerve root. The results of the present study indicate that the EMG signs of hemilingual spasm are similar to those of HFS and that the tongue spasms are most likely caused by hyperactivity of the hypoglossal motonucleus. Based on the authors’ knowledge, the above detailed electrophysiological findings related to hemilingual spasm have not been previously reported in the literature.     

Clinical usefulness of magnetic resonance cisternography in patients having hemifacial spasm

To evaluate the usefulness of MR cisternography fourteen patients that had hemifacial spasm and 20 control patients underwent MR cisternography. All the patients with hemifacial spasm had a confirmed vascular compression after surgery. MR cisternography was performed using a 1.5-tesla superconducting MR magnet in which a 3D (dimensional) heavily T2-weighted turbo spin-echo sequence was used. In 34 randomly selected individuals, we retrospectively determined whether MR cisternography images could be used to evaluate symptoms, and what the benefits of obtaining this image was. The results were correlated with the surgical findings. The sensitivity was 100% and the specificity was 94% in all patients having a hemifacial spasm. The offending vessels were the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) in six patients cases, the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in six, both the vertebral artery and PICA in one, and the vertebral artery in one. All the images showed good resolution and contrast, and also showed the exact correlation between the facial nerve and intracranial vessels in the multiplaner image. The findings of neurovascular compression were well correlated with the surgical findings. We believe that high-resolution 3D MR cisternography is a very useful method for evaluating the neurovascular compression in patients that have hemifacial spasm.     

Hemifacial spasm patient with ipsilateral total absence of common carotid artery, vertebral artery and aneurysm of the contralateral internal carotid artery

We present a case of a 45-year-old male patient with left hemifacial spasm for 6 years. Magnetic resonance tomographic angiography confirmed that there were small vessels adjacent to the left facial nerve root entry zone, but the left internal carotid artery (ICA) was absent. Magnetic resonance angiography using three-dimensional time of flight technique showed the absence of the left ICA and vertebral artery, But the presence of a 6-mm aneurysm in the bifurcation of the right internal carotid artery. These abnormal arterial structures were further confirmed by angiogram. Aortic arch angiogram revealed a right-sided aortic arch and the Subclavian steal phenomenon. The left common carotid artery and the left Subclavian artery were absent. Right vertebral angiography showed retrograde filling of the left vertebral artery. The left upper limb was fed by this artery. The aneurysm was successfully clipped. Post-operatively, the hemifacial spasm was weakened. However, the operation did not change the neurovascular positional relationship, thus we advised follow-up visits. Cerebral artery anomalies should be taken into consideration when performing imaging and surgical corrections in patients with hemifacial spasm.     

面神经脑池段与其周围血管的MRI重建观测及临床应用

目的　为面神经脑池段与其周围血管是否存在压迫或接触提供形态学诊断依据。 方法　选取采用MRI 3D-FIESTA和3D-TOF序列扫描的检查正常者140例和单侧面肌痉挛患者70例,在MPR重建影像上观测I-CSFN-SV的血管直径、与脑干距离和血管自身角度、夹角及其与面肌痉挛发病率之间的关系。 结果　正常组、面肌痉挛健侧组和面肌痉挛患侧组I-CSFN-SV的血管直径、与脑干距离、血管自身角度、夹角分别为（0.48±0.03）mm、（0.49±0.04）mm、（0.71±0.06）mm和（8.69±0.62）mm、（8.66±0.75）mm、（5.93±0.47）mm,（74.39±2.33）°、（72.66±2.54）°、（48.57±3.28）°和（85.60±3.07）°、（86.75±2.73）°、（88.41±3.76）°,面肌痉挛患侧组与正常组、面肌痉挛健侧组I-CSFN-SV的血管直径、与脑干距离、血管自身角度均有显著性差异（P＜0.05）,夹角无显著性差异（P＞0.05）,且随着I-CSFN-SV与脑干距离的增加则发病率呈下降趋势,血管直径的增加和血管自身角度的减小则发病率呈上升趋势,夹角变化与发病率之间无显著性变化趋势。 结论　I-CSFN-SV的血管直径、与脑干距离和血管自身角度是诊断是否存在压迫或接触的重要诊断指标,血管自身角度越小、血管直径越粗和相交处与脑干距离越近,则越容易出现面肌痉挛病变。     

Development of the sympathetic innervation to the cerebral arterial system in neonatal rats as revealed by anterograde labeling with wheatgerm agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase

In order to clarify the developmental pattern in the sympathetic nerve fibers innervating the cerebral arterial system during the postnatal period in rats, we labeled the postganglionic nerve fibers originating in the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) and directly observed their extension and plexus formation by means of anterograde labeling with wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP). The WGA-HRP solution was injected into the right SCG 1–7 days after birth. The rats were killed 48 h after trace injection, and the cerebral arteries were reacted with tetramethylbenzidine, then observed as a whole mount preparation. The labeled nerve fibers appeared as a few relatively straight bundles with branching fibers running longitudinally to the long axis of the artery in the ipsilateral right side of the circle of Willis and proximal portion of their main branching arteries at 3 days after birth. The nerve fibers started to form a circular pattern of nerve plexus only on the wall of the circle of Willis as early as 1 week after birth. At the beginning of postnatal week 2, labeled nerve fibers extended the collateral projections into the collateral side of the circle of Willis, and these expanding projections could not be observed at postnatal week 3. We observed a route of the sympathetic nerve fibers advancing into the cerebral arterial system which has not been described in previous studies; bundle of labeled nerve fibers entered into the wall of the middle portion of the basilar artery in half of the animals, in any postnatal period. We were able to confirm, by using an anterograde labeling technique with WGA-HRP, how the sympathetic nerve fibers advance into the cerebral arterial system, when they start to form nerve plexus during the postnatal period in rats, and clarified that the sympathetic nerve fibers showed overabundant collateral projection in the cerebral arterial system during the early postnatal period.     

内窥镜下迷路后入路面神经解剖学研究

目的：为内窥镜下迷路后入路面肌痉挛微血管减压术提供解剖学资料。方法：正常成人头颅标本15例（30侧），模拟迷路后入路在内窥镜下观察面神经及其与前庭蜗神经和相关血管的毗邻关系。结果：（1）在不牵拉小脑和不损伤内耳结构的前提下，内窥镜下迷路后入路可观察小脑脑桥角区面神经全程；（2）面神经根出入区位于前庭蜗神经内侧稍下方；（3）有13.3％小脑下前动脉袢呈环状围绕面神经，26．7％小脑下后动脉与面神经位置关系密切。结论：内窥镜下迷路后入路对小脑脑桥角区面神经及微血管的处理有极好视角。     

Significant Differences in Sympathetic Nerve Fiber Density Among the Facial Skin Nerves: A Histologic Study Using Human Cadaveric Specimens

Sympathetic nerve fibers in the skin nerves are connected with vasomotor, thermoregulatory, sensory input modulatory, and immunologic events; however, to our knowledge, no histological information is available for skin nerves in the human face. Using specimens from 17 donated cadavers (mean age, 86 years), we measured a sectional area of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐positive fibers in (1) the frontal nerve (V1), (2) the infraorbital nerve (V2), (3) the mental nerve (V3), (4) the greater auricular nerve (C2), (5) the auriculotemporal nerve (ATN), and (6) the zygomatic branch of the facial nerve (VII). The V1, V2, and V3 were obtained at their entrances to the subcutaneous tissue from the bony canal or notch. The V1, C2, ATN, and/or VII usually contained abundant TH‐positive fibers (almost 3%–8% of the nerve sectional area), whereas the V2 and V3 consistently carried few TH‐positive fibers (<1%). The difference between these two groups was quite significant (P < 0.001). Thus, from the superior cervical ganglion, the sympathetic nerve fibers reached the forehead through the frontal nerve trunk, whereas artery‐bounded fibers came to the cheek, nose, and mouth. The sympathetic palsy caused by trigeminal nerve involvement is mainly characterized by the symptoms seen in the distribution of the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve, such as in Horner's syndrome. It suggests that the forehead and the other facial areas are representative parts of those different sympathetic innervations that could be useful for evaluating the sympathetic function of the face in various diseases. Anat Rec, 299:1054–1059, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Constitution of the greater splanchnic nerve in the rat

The greater splanchnic nerve originating from the sympathetic ganglia between the 10th and 12th ribs on the dorsal thoracic wall passes through the diaphragm between its medial and lateral erura, to form the celiac plexus around the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery in the abdominal cavity. The nerve consists of about 10,000 of nerve fibers and of 25,000 of ganglion cells in its whole length of 2.5 cm; nerve fibers can be divided into myelinated fibers, accounting for less than 6% of total numbers, and unmyelinated fibers, which amount to more 90%. Special attention was not paid to the numerous ganglion cells in terms of their shapes, sizes, and cell organelles except for a small number of binucleate cells. However, the nerve contains remarkable synapses that connect between axon showing flat, elliptical, and cored vesicles and dendrite, between another type of axon having elliptical and cored vesicles and dendrite, and even between dendrite and cell body, in which synaptic vesicles are small spherical and elliptical. These facts can suggest that the greater splanchnic nerve contains more complex structure than has been hitherto described.     

Median Sacral Artery,Sympathetic Nerves,and the Coccygeal Body: A Study Using Serial Sections of Human Embryos and Fetuses

To examine how the median sacral artery (MSA) is involved with the coccygeal body or glomus coccygeum, we studied serial frontal or sagittal sections of 14 embryos (approximately 5–6 weeks of gestation) and 12 fetuses (10–18 weeks). At five weeks, the caudal end of the dorsal aorta (i.e., MSA) accompanied putative sympathetic ganglion cells in front of the upper coccygeal and lower sacral vertebrae. At six weeks, a candidate for the initial coccygeal body was identified as a longitudinal arterial plexus involving nerve fibers and sympathetic ganglion cells between arteries. At 10–18 weeks, the MSA exhibited a highly tortuous course at the lower sacral and coccygeal levels, and was attached to and surrounded by veins, nerve fibers, and sympathetic ganglion cells near and between the bilateral origins of the levator ani muscle. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and chromogranin A in the nerves. However, throughout the stages examined, we found no evidence suggestive of an arteriovenous anastomosis, such as well‐developed smooth muscle. An acute anterior flexure of the vertebrae at the lower sacrum, as well as regression of the secondary neural tube, seemed to induce arterial plexus formation from an initial straight MSA. Nerves and ganglion cells were likely to be secondarily involved with the plexus because of the close topographical relationship. However, these nerves might play a major role in the extreme change into adult morphology. An arteriovenous anastomosis along the MSA might be an overinterpretation, at least in the prenatal human. Anat Rec, 299:819–827, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of Aerobic Training on Innervation Density and Neurogenic Responses of Skin Afferent Blood Vessels

We studied the effect of 8-week aerobic training (treadmill running) on neurogenic responses and density of sympathetic innervation of subcutaneous artery in rats. In trained rats, the artery response to stimulation of intramural sympathetic nerve decreased, but the sensitivity of vascular smooth muscles to norepinephrine was not changed. The density of adrenergic nerve fibers in the arterial wall after training was also lower than in the control group. This effect of training can be explained by the need in increased heat emission during physical activity.     

Neuropeptide Y co-exists with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and acetylcholine in parasympathetic cerebrovascular nerves originating in the sphenopalatine, otic, and internal carotid ganglia of the rat

Neuropeptide Y co-exists with noradrenaline in the majority of the sympathetic nerves supplying cerebral blood vessels. However, after sympathectomy in the rat the number of cerebrovascular neuropeptide Y nerve fibers are only reduced in number despite a complete disappearance of the adrenergic markers. The origin of these non-sympathetic neuropeptide Y fibers was studied by nerve transections and retrograde axonal tracing utilizing True Blue. Three days after bilateral superior cervical sympathectomy, the number of neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibers decreased to about 40% of that in non-treated animals. One week after True Blue application on the proximal portion of the middle cerebral artery, the tracer accumulated in neurons of the sphenopalatine, otic, and internal carotid ganglia. Of these cells 80%, 95% and 5%, respectively, were neuropeptide Y-positive. Some of the True Blue/neuropeptide Y-positive cells displayed immunoreactivity for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and some were positive for choline acetyltransferase. Two weeks after bilateral removal of the sphenopalatine ganglion or transection of postganglionic fibers from the ganglion reaching the pial vessels through the ethmoidal foramen, together with subsequent sympathectomy, no neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibers could be observed on the anterior cerebral and internal ethmoidal artery or the distal portion of the middle cerebral artery, whereas a few nerve fibers remained on the proximal portion of the middle cerebral artery, internal carotid artery, and the rostral portion of the basilar artery. In conclusion, neuropeptide Y in cerebrovascular nerves is co-stored not only with noradrenaline in sympathetic nerves from the superior cervical ganglion, but also with acetylcholine (reflected in the presence of choline acetyltransferase) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in parasympathetic nerves originating in the sphenopalatine, otic, and internal carotid ganglia.     

Cryptogenic hemifacial spasm. A neurophysiological study

Whether hemifacial spasm (HFS) is due to axono-axonal ephaptic transmission or to facial nucleus abnormal hyperexcitability remains controversial. The neurophysiological hallmark of HFS is the delayed response (DR). This response has an indirect pathway and thus a long latency. It is evoked A) as a distant response in muscles innervated by a facial branch other than the one stimulated, and B) in muscles innervated by the branch stimulated. In this work, 99 single all-or-none DRs of 24 cases of cryptogenic HFS were studied by threshold stimulation of a branch, or of the trunk, of the facial nerve. A) Eighty-eight distant DRs were studied. Fifty-four of them were frequently evoked as double discharges (DDs), or sometimes as multiple discharges, with a 3 to 7 ms interval. A collision technique, using paired stimuli, showed that the second discharge of 12 out of 20 DDs was accompanied by a back-wave due to a proximal ectopic re-excitation on the axon, or to the back-firing of an alpha cell (F-response), or to both. F-waves in HFS were more frequent than in normals or in other facial pathologies. B) Eleven DRs were recorded in muscles innervated by the facial branch stimulated. Some of them persisted when, using a stronger stimulus, the same all-or-none potential was also evoked as a direct response. In other cases both the direct response and the DR were evoked with identical stimulation threshold. The direct-indirect response interval of these 11 DRs was shorter than the normal M-F interval. These findings suggest that, in the case of HFS, axons are interconnected by uni- and bidirectional ephapses. Self-sustained repetitive firing in such a group of axons apparently results from re-excitations occurring both at the ephapse site and at the cellular level (F-responses). Spasm develops when several groups fire together. The changing excitability of the alpha cells modulates the importance of the phenomenon.     

Wide distribution and subcellular localization of histamine in sympathetic nervous systems of different species

Previous studies have demonstrated that histamine (HA) acts as a neurotransmitter in the cardiac sympathetic nervous system of the guinea pig. The aim of the current study was to examine whether HA widely exists in the sympathetic nervous systems of other species and the subcellular localization of HA in sympathetic terminals. An immunofluorescence histochemical multiple-staining technique and anterograde tracing method were employed to visualize the colocalization of HA and norepinephrine (NE) in sympathetic ganglion and nerve fibers in different species. Pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy was used to observe the subcellular distribution of HA in sympathetic nerve terminals. Under the confocal microscope, coexistence of NE and HA was displayed in the superior cervical ganglion and celiac ganglion neurons of the mouse and dog as well as in the vas deferens, mesenteric artery axon, and varicosities of the mouse and guinea pig. Furthermore, colocalization of NE and HA in cardiac sympathetic axons and varicosities was labeled by biotinylated dextranamine injected into the superior cervical ganglion of the guinea pig. By electron microscopy, HA-like high-density immunoreactive products were seen in the small vesicles of the guinea pig vas deferens. These results provide direct cellular and subcellular morphological evidence for the colocalization of HA and NE in sympathetic ganglion and nerve fibers, and support that HA is classified as a neurotransmitter in sympathetic neurons.     

先天性巨结肠病肠壁NOS阳性神经元光镜和电镜观察

目的：探讨NOS阳性神经元与先天性巨结肠病病因及病理机制的关系。方法：对扩张段和移行段肠壁分别作全层铺片,NADPH－d酶组织化学染色,光镜和扫描电镜下观察NOS阳性神经结构。结果：扩张肠段光镜下肠肌丛神经节和神经元均较大,节内神经元染色深数量多,沿神经节周边及神经纤维发出处排列。扫描电镜下神经元胞体较大,排列较密,发出的神经纤维较多,在各个方向上相互连接。沿肌纤维排列的神经元之间有较多的横向连接纤维,肠肌丝社会元还通过穿行于环行肌层的神经纤维和粘膜下层神经元相连接,移行段光镜下节内神经元胞浆染色较淡,深浅不一,神经节和神经元均较小,发现的纤维细且染色较淡,扫描电镜下神经元胞形较小,且大小不等,密较较小,神经元间的纤维联系及神经纤维攀附于肌纤维表面的现象均较少,神经元和神经纤维呈沿纵行肌长轴线性分布。结论：先天性巨结肠病的发生及发展可与NOS阳性神经元在肠壁的分布与代谢异常有关关。     

Site-dependent differences in density of sympathetic nerve fibers in muscle-innervating nerves of the human head and neck

The autonomic nerve supply of skeletal muscle has become a focus of interest because it is closely related to the adaptation of energy metabolism with aging. We have performed an immunohistochemistry study on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) using specimens obtained from ten selected elderly cadavers (mean age 83.3 years) in which we examined muscle-innervating nerves (abbreviated “muscle-nerves” hereafter) of ten striated muscles (soleus, infraspinatus, extra-ocular inferior rectus, lateral rectus, superior obliquus, temporalis, orbicularis oculi, posterior cricoarytenoideus, trapezius and genioglossus) and, as a positive control, the submandibular ganglion. We found that the extra-ocular muscles received no or very few TH-positive nerve fibers. Muscle-nerves to the other head and neck muscles contained a few or several TH-positive fibers per section, but their density (proportional area of TH-positive fibers per nerve cross-section) was one-half to one-third of that in nerves to the soleus or infraspinatus. We did not find nNOS-positive fibers in any of these muscle-nerves. In the head and neck muscles, with the exception of those of the tongue, there appeared to be very few TH-positive nerve fibers along the feeding artery. Consequently, the head and neck muscles seemed to receive much fewer sympathetic nerves than limb muscles. There was no evidence that nNOS-positive nerves contributed to vasodilation of feeding arteries in striated muscles. This site-dependent difference in sympathetic innervation would reflect its commitment to muscle activity. However, we did not find any rules determining the density of nerves according to muscle fiber type and the mode of muscle activity.     

Nerve pathways between the pterygopalatine ganglion and eye in cats

By dissection of thiocholine-stained orbital preparations, it has been determined that three different nerve pathways link the pterygopalatine ganglion and the eye in cats. 1) Nerves from the proximal half of the ganglion join a plexus of nerves and ganglion cells in the rete mirabile of the maxillary artery. Branches of the internal carotid nerve also supply this plexus. Fine nerves from the plexus travel to the optic nerve and then to the eye, accompanying both the nasociliary nerve that passes through the rete and the ciliary arteries that arise from the rete. 2) One or more nerves from the nerve of the pterygoid canal and from a prominent accessory ganglion near the orbital apex course to the inferior optic nerve surface at the optic foramen; these then run distally along the optic nerve to fuse with ciliary nerves or to accompany ciliary arteries entering the eye. 3) Other nerves from the pterygopalatine ganglion travel medially around the extraocular muscle cone to join the ethmoidal and infratrochlear branches of the nasociliary nerve; some nerves from the ganglion then take a retrograde course to the optic nerve, where they join ciliary nerves or arteries to the eye. All three pathways may transmit sympathetic, parasympathetic and somatic sensory nerve fibers.     

Developmental regulation of parasympathetic nerve density by sympathetic innervation in the tarsal smooth muscle of the rat.

The developmental influence of sympathetic innervation on parasympathetic nerve density was investigated in the tarsal smooth muscle of the rat. Specificity of acetylcholinesterase staining as a marker for parasympathetic innervation was first determined by acute selective denervations. Excision of the ipsilateral superior cervical ganglion caused a 39% reduction in the density of acetylcholinesterase-positive nerves seven days later, indicating that sympathetic nerves contribute to cholinesterase-positive tarsal muscle innervation. Excision of the pterygopalatine ganglion concurrent with superior cervical ganglionectomy caused a virtually complete disappearance of acetylcholinesterase-positive innervation within seven days, indicating that non-sympathetic cholinesterase-positive fibers derive from the pterygopalatine ganglion and are presumed to be parasympathetic. Analysis of the control population indicated that parasympathetic nerve density did not vary significantly between males and females, between the superior and inferior muscles, or in rats studied at four and 12 months of age. The influence of sympathetic innervation on parasympathetic nerve density during postnatal development was examined by conducting surgical sympathectomies on postnatal day 5 and quantifying acetylcholinesterase-positive nerve density at four months of age. Neonatal sympathectomy caused a 46% reduction in cholinesterase-positive nerve density beyond that which occurred in acutely sympathectomized adult controls. It is concluded that sympathetic innervation is required for developing parasympathetic nerves to attain their normal density within the rat tarsal muscle. This finding is consistent with the idea that sympathetic nerves can exert positive effects on parasympathetic nerve outgrowth during development.     

Patterns of reinnervation of denervated cerebral arteries by sympathetic nerve fibers after unilateral ganglionectomy in rats

Summary In order to clarify the manner in which previously denervated cerebral arteries become reinnervated after unilateral excision of the superior cervical ganglion (SCG), we observed directly the reinnervating sympathetic nerve fibers originating in the contralateral SCG by using anterograde labeling with wheat germ aggulutinin-horseradish peroxidase in rats. The nerve fibers sprouted from the nerve fibers in the contralateral anterior cerebral artery and reinnervated the arterial wall of the anterior cerebral artery of the denervated side as early as one week after ganglionectomy. In addition to this sprouting route, three other reinnervating nerve fiber routes were observed in the circle of Willis of the denervated side two weeks after ganglionectomy: the proximal portion of the internal carotid artery, the route passing between bilateral ethmodial arteries, and the posterior communicating artery. Eight weeks after ganglionectomy, these reinnervating nerve fibers formed a fairly dense plexus in a circular pattern in the circle of Willis. However, the reinnervation could not be observed in the arterial branches derived from the circle of Willis (middle cerebral artery and posterior cerebral artery) even 16 weeks after ganglionectomy. The present results clearly demonstrated the time course, distribution pattern and limitation of the reinnervation from the contralateral SCG following unilateral ganglionectomy. The fact that reinnervation could be observed only in the main cerebral arteries of the circle of Willis, in which the nerve plexus appeared to have a circular pattern, suggests a difference between the qualities of sympathetic innervation controlling the cerebral circulation in these arteries and the other arterial branches related to these differences in reinnervation capacity.     

The presence and possible role of a galanin-like peptide in the mudpuppy heart

A correlated histochemical and pharmacological study was undertaken to establish the presence, origin, and possible function of nerve fibers containing a galanin-like peptide in the mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) heart. Whole mount preparations of septum-sinus venosus or atria and sections of ventricular muscle were prepared for immunocytochemistry. Galanin-immunoreactive fibers were found coursing diffusely across the septum-sinus venosus to form complex networks over cardiac muscle strands. Individual atrial muscle strands were densely innervated by galanin-immunoreactive fibers and galanin-immunoreactive fibers were also observed in the epicardial and myocardial layers of the ventricle. Most of the parasympathetic postganglionic neurons in the cardiac ganglion and many of the small intensely fluorescent-like cells exhibited galanin immunoreactivity. Galanin-immunoreactive fibers were present in the nerve trunks connecting clusters of parasympathetic postganglionic neurons. Close associations between galanin-positive fibers and individual parasympathetic postganglionic neurons were also observed. The presence of the galanin-immunoreactive fibers was similar in preparations taken from animals pretreated with 6-hydroxydopamine to that seen in preparations taken from control animals, indicating that the galanin-positive fibers were not sympathetic postganglionic axons. Moreover, the galanin-immunoreactive nerve fibers were separate from fibers containing substance P and/or calcitonin gene-related peptide that have previously been shown to be processes of afferent fibers. In twitch-tension experiments, galanin in the range 1 x 10(-7) to 1 x 10(-6) M caused cardioinhibition of spontaneously beating isolated septal-sinus venosus preparations. Galanin also produced a concentration-dependent (1 x 10(-7) to 1 x 10(-6) M) decrease in the twitch-tension development of electrically stimulated atrial or ventricular preparations. Local application of galanin produced hyperpolarization of cardiac muscle fibers in both isolated septal-sinus venosus preparations and atrial preparations. The response of individual parasympathetic ganglion cells to local application of galanin varied between neurons; some neurons were depolarized whereas others were hyperpolarized. We conclude that a galanin-like peptide is contained in both the parasympathetic postganglionic neurons and small intensely fluorescent-like cells and their processes. Further, we hypothesize that in the case of the parasympathetic postganglionic neurons, the galanin-like peptide may work in conjunction with acetylcholine to regulate cardiac activity.     

高血压鼠脑底动脉神经肽Y能神经与颈上神经节、星状神经节的关系

目的　探讨高血压鼠脑底动脉神经肽Y能神经与颈上神经节、星状神经节的关系。方法　应用神经节切除术和免疫组织化学ABC法 ,对 16只自发性高血压鼠脑底动脉神经肽Y能神经纤维的分布进行了观察。结果　对照组自发性高血压鼠大脑前动脉、大脑中动脉、大脑后动脉和基底动脉壁上均可见神经肽Y能阳性纤维 ,纤维似曲线状 ,多呈网状走行 ,密度较高。手术Ⅰ组作双侧颈上神经节切除术 ,脑底主要动脉的阳性纤维明显减少 ;手术Ⅱ组作双侧星状神经节切除 ,脑底主要动脉壁上的阳性纤维明显减少 ;手术Ⅲ组作双侧颈上神经节和星状神经节切除术 ,脑底主要动脉的阳性纤维完全消失。结论　自发性高血压鼠脑底主要动脉的神经肽Y能神经纤维起源于双侧颈上神经节和双侧星状神经节 ,神经肽Y能神经可能在高血压发病中起作用