The location of extrinsic efferent and afferent nerve cell bodies of the normal canine stomach.

The location of the extrinsic efferent and afferent nerve cell bodies to the mucosa, submucosa, and tunica muscularis of the cardiac, gastric, and pyloric gland regions of the ventral stomach and to the mucosa-submucosa alone of these 3 glandular gastric regions was determined using the horseradish peroxidase technique. All animals of the study demonstrated labeling bilaterally in the rostrocaudal extent of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV) although mucosa-submucosa injections resulted in fewer labeled cells in the DMV. There was no evidence of viscerotopic organization within the DMV for the different gastric regions. However, the left nucleus generally contained a greater number of labeled cells than the right nucleus. Injection of the mucosa, submucosa, and tunica muscularis of the cardiac gland region also resulted in labeling in the nucleus ambiguus in 4 of 5 animals. The vast majority of labeled postganglionic sympathetic neurons were found in the celiacomesenteric ganglion. Labeled cells were also located variously in the stellate ganglion, middle cervical ganglion, and sympathetic trunk ganglia for the different groups. There was no discernible pattern of localization of labeled cells within a sympathetic ganglion. For the stomach, afferent labeled cells were located in the range of the first thoracic to fourth lumbar spinal ganglia and the nodose ganglia, bilaterally. As with sympathetic neurons, there was no discernible pattern of localization of labeled cells within a sensory ganglion.