de Souza R R, Gama E F, de Carvalho C A, Liberti E A
Department of Anatomy, São Paulo University, Brazil.
Acta Anat (Basel). 1996;156(1):53-60. doi: 10.1159/000147828.
The cardiac plexus of the Wistar rat was investigated in whole-mount preparations of the atria by NADH-diaphorase staining and by the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemical technique. The plexus lies over the muscular layer of the atria, dorsal to the muscle itself, in the connective tissue of the subepicardium. The plexus contains on average 975 +/- 150 neurons, occurring singly or gathered in packed ganglia. The ganglia are found regularly in certain situations, namely, cranially to the pulmonary veins (44% of total); cranially and to the left of superior vena cava (10%); in the interatrial groove (21%); to the left of the left pulmonary vein (11%); caudally to the pulmonary veins (12%) and in the wall of the coronary sinus (1%). Ganglia are never found on the auricular appendages. For the histochemical demonstration of AChE, the 'direct coloring' copper ferrocyanide method was used. Extrinsic nerves enter the atria along the superior vena cava, along the pulmonary veins and along the coronary sinus, forming ganglion-containing plexuses. From specific sites of these plexuses, nerves proceed to the ganglia located to the left of the superior vena cava, to the ventral and dorsal ventricular wall and to the wall of the right atrium, where they form a delicate plexus accompanying the muscle fibers. Most of the neurons of the plexuses displayed AChE activity in the cytoplasm though they presented different reaction intensities. The distribution of cardiac nerves from groups of neurons located at discrete sites may indicate that postganglionic nerves selectively project to and thus control specific cardiac regions and/or functions.
通过NADH - 黄递酶染色和乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）组织化学技术，在Wistar大鼠心房整装标本中研究了心脏神经丛。该神经丛位于心房肌层上方，在心肌本身的背侧，心外膜下的结缔组织中。神经丛平均含有975±150个神经元，单个存在或聚集在密集的神经节中。在某些特定部位经常能发现神经节，即：肺静脉颅侧（占总数的44%）；上腔静脉颅侧及左侧（10%）；房间沟（21%）；左肺静脉左侧（11%）；肺静脉尾侧（12%）以及冠状窦壁内（1%）。在心房附件上从未发现神经节。为进行AChE的组织化学显示，采用了“直接显色”亚铁氰化铜法。外在神经沿着上腔静脉、肺静脉和冠状窦进入心房，形成含有神经节的神经丛。从这些神经丛的特定部位，神经延伸至位于上腔静脉左侧、心室腹侧和背侧壁以及右心房壁的神经节，在那里它们形成一个伴随肌纤维的精细神经丛。尽管神经丛中的大多数神经元在细胞质中显示出AChE活性，但它们呈现出不同的反应强度。来自位于离散部位的神经元群的心脏神经分布可能表明节后神经选择性地投射到并因此控制特定的心脏区域和/或功能。
