Intracranial trajectories of sympathetic nerve fibers originating in the superior cervical ganglion in the rat: WGA-HRP anterograde labeling study

Abstract

Intracranial trajectories of sympathetic nerve fibers originating in the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) in the rat were investigated by means of anterograde labeling following the injection of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate (WGA-HRP) into the unilateral SCG. The trajectory of the sympathetic fiber innervating the pineal gland and its continuing structures was found advancing along the abducent nerve, through the cavernous plexus, then along the trochlear nerve. Labeled sympathetic fibers showed two patterns of distribution in the blood vessels on the basal surface of the brain. The sympathetic fibers originating in the unilateral SCG were intermingled with those fibers from the contralateral SCG in the pineal gland, its continuing structures and the choroid plexus of the third ventricle as well as in the cerebral blood vessels.