Sympathetic innervation of the ileocecal junction in horses

Abstract

The distribution and chemical phenotypes of sympathetic and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons innervating the equine ileocecal junction (ICJ) were studied by combining retrograde tracing and immunohistochemistry. Immunoreactivity (IR) for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), substance P (SP), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) was investigated. Sympathetic neurons projecting to the ICJ were distributed within the celiac (CG), cranial mesenteric (CranMG), and caudal mesenteric (CaudMG) ganglia, as well as in the last ganglia of the thoracic sympathetic chain and in the splanchnic ganglia. In the CG an..