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Gross anatomical study of the sympathetic cardiac nerves in the house musk shrew ( Suncus murinus )
Author(s) -
Tanaka Ai,
Tanaka Shigenori,
Miyamoto Kensaku,
Yi ShuangQin,
Nakatani Toshio
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the anatomical record: advances in integrative anatomy and evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1932-8494
pISSN - 1932-8486
DOI - 10.1002/ar.20510
Subject(s) - suncus , anatomy , cervical ganglia , sympathetic nervous system , medicine , lung , autonomic nervous system , shrew , biology , blood pressure , heart rate , ecology
The sympathetic cardiac nerves originating from the cervical and upper thoracic sympathetic ganglia in the house musk shrew ( Suncus murinus ) were examined using macroscopic and whole‐mount immunohistochemical methods. Based on the results, the nerves were macroscopically classified into the following three groups: nerves innervating the cervical sympathetic ganglia mainly to the arterial porta of the heart; nerves supplying the stellate and thoracic sympathetic ganglia at the level of T2–T5 or T6 for both the arterial and venous portae of the heart; and nerves innervating the thoracic sympathetic ganglia at the level of T4–T9 to the esophagus and lung and then the heart via the blood vessels within the mediastinal pleura. These findings in the house musk shrew suggest a possible primitive morphological pattern of the cervical and thoracic sympathetic nervous system that may be related to those in other mammals, including humans. Anat Rec, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.