ORGANIZATION OF THE RABBIT CARDIAC NEURONAL CLUSTERS: MORPHOLOGIC BASIS FOR EXPERIMENTAL CARDIAC ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

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Laboratorinė medicina. 2013,
t. 15,
Nr. 2,
p. 69 -
74
Authors: 

Introduction and purpose. The disbalanse of the autonomic nervous system is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiac diseases even the sudden car­diac death. Although the rabbit is used extensively in neurocardiological re­search but the topography and mor­phology of the clusters of intrinsic car­diac neurons (ICNs) have not been ex­amined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the distribution and the structural organization of the intrinsic cardiac neuronal clusters in the rabbit heart.

Material and methods. The car­diac nerve structures were stained histochemically for acetylcholinester­ase (AChE) in whole-mount prepara­tions derived from 11 young rabbits.

Results. The vast majority of the interconnected neuronal clusters were found at the roots of the pulmonary veins. In all examined hearts, the total number of the ICNs ranged from 1517 to 2788. The average of the neuron number of right cranial, left dorsal and ventricular groups were statistical sig­nificantly lower compared to the septal cranial, septal caudal and left cranial groups (P<0.05).

Conclusion. Both the definite loj cation of neuronal clusters and the sim­ple structural organization, i.e. unilay­ered clusters with slithly expressed neuropile and lacking of fibrous cap­sule, have been characterised for sparse rabbit neuronal clusters. Signif­icantly smaller neuronal number and slightly expressed neuropile in the rab­bit heart, comparing to the large mam­mals, contribute for evidence of the pre­dominated efferent neurons that di­rectly influence the target-tissue in rabbit heart. These assumptions allow us to validate the use of rabbit as popu­lar model in the experimental neuroj cardiology.

Keywords: rabbit heart, acetylcholinesterase, neuronal cluster, neurons.

 

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