Journal of Anatomy

Table of Contents - 2001 - Volume 199, Issue 03  


Paper

Peripheral ganglia supplying the genital smooth musculature in the female pig: an experimental study

RINO  PANU  a1 c1, LUISA  BO MINELLI  a1, MADDALENA  BOTTI  a1, FERDINANDO  GAZZA  a1, FRANCA  ACONE  a2 and GIOVANNI  PALMIERI  a2
a1 Institute of Normal Anatomy of Domestic Animals, University of Parma, Italy
a2 Department of Animal Biology, University of Sassari, Italy

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to locate the sensory and autonomic ganglia innervating the female genital musculature in pigs. The retrograde neuronal tracers horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or fast blue (FB) were injected into the left retractor clitoridis muscle (RCM), which was treated as a typical model of the genital smooth musculature. Labelled cells were found in ipsilateral dorsal root ganglia Sl–S4, in bilateral sympathetic paravertebral ganglia from L5–L6 or L6–L7 to S3 and in the left and right caudal mesenteric ganglion. In two of the five animals treated, presumably preganglionic parasympathetic cells were labelled in the ipsilateral intermediate grey substance of the segments Sl–S2.

(Accepted March 19 2001)


Key Words: Genital smooth muscle; retractor clitoridis muscle; pig; innervation; neuronal tracers.

Correspondence:
c1 Correspondence to Prof. Rino Panu, Istituto di Anatomia degli Animali Domestici, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Via de1 Taglio, 8, 43100 Parma Italy. Tel.: +390521902641; fax: +390521902642