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Ultrastructural anatomy of the renal nerves in rats
Author(s) -
Sato Karina Laurenti,
Carmo Jussara Marcia do,
Fazan Valéria Paula Sassoli
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a880
Subject(s) - anatomy , ultrastructure , axon , myelin sheath , myelin , nerve fiber , kidney , medicine , pathology , biology , central nervous system , neuroscience
The innervation within mammalian kidneys (intrinsic innervation) has been extensively described in the literature, particularly for rats. In contrast, few studies have provided a detailed description of the morphology of the extrinsic renal nerves leading to the kidneys. The extrinsic renal nerves are of interest because they are the site for recording of sympathetic nerve activity and electrical stimulation in functional studies. Thus, the aim of the present study was to describe the ultrastructural anatomy of the extrinsic renal nerves in rats. Male Wistar rats (N=6) were killed and the renal nerves were prepared for transmission electron microscopy by means of conventional techniques for epoxy resin embedding. Morphometry was carried out with the aid of computer software. The renal nerve average fascicular area was 5027±813 μm2. The average number of fibers in each nerve was 22±6 for the myelinated and 1236±115 for the unmyelinated. The average diameter of the myelinated fiber was 3.4±0.2 μm, distributed on a bimodal histogram, with peaks at 3.0 and 9.5 μm. The average unmyelinated fiber diameter was 0.6±0.1 μm, distributed on a unimodal histogram, with the peak at 0.6 μm. The relation between the myelin area and the axon diameter for the myelinated fibers was linear and positive (r2=0.85). This is the first study to describe ultrastructural morphometric details of the extrinsic renal nerves in rats, thus providing morphological basis for further experiments involving renal nerve pathologies, such as diabetes and hypertension. Support: FAPESP 04/01390‐8, FAPESP 04/09139‐2, CNPq 501230/2003‐3 and FAEPA