Sensory innervation of the suprarenal gland in the albino rat: a fluorescent tract tracer study.

Overview

The afferent innervation of the suprarenal gland was studied by using a fluorescent tract tracer in the adult albino rat. The left suprarenal gland was injected slowly with 5 microl of 2% aqueous suspension of Fast blue. After a survival period of 4-5 days, the dorsal root ganglia were dissected out and 15-microm-thick plastic (JB 4) sections were examined under the fluorescent microscope. The labelled neurons were seen from the third thoracic to second lumbar dorsal root ganglia, ipsilateral to the site of injection with maximum concentration from T6 to T11. These primary sensory neurons were round to oval in shape, varied from 7 microm to 40 microm in size, and were distributed randomly in the dorsal root ganglia. The labelling of the primary sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia confirms the presence of sensory nerve endings in the suprarenal gland that may be responsible for the vascular distension and hormonal release.