It was often observed that information concerning visceral disease was presented to the somatic area, through referred pain, hypersensitive band, or other viscero-sensory and viscero-motor reflexes
Reflexological correlation between the viscera and skin have involved many problems since ancient times.
Our laboratory studied the innervation in the ventral wall of the stomach and M, gastrocunemius of the cat.
The cats weighing 1.8kg-2.7kg received injections of about 300mg horseradish peroxidase (HRP, M. W. 40.000) dissolved 600μl 0.9% NaCl-solution at the ventral wall of the stomach and left M, gastrocumenius.
The animals were perfused transcardially at 48hr after injection.
Then, in the stomach experiment, spinal, sympathetic, nodosal an celiac ganglia were removed, and in the muscle experiment, spinal and sympathetic ganglia were removed.
They were kept in a fixative for 4hr and then washed for 12hr. All ganglia were serial sectioned (30μm thick) on cryostats and incubated.
The histological procedures were according to Graham & Karnovsky, Malmgren & Olsson.
In the case of the stomach, HRP-positive cells were distributed to the left and right side of spinal and sympathetic ganglia. The distributed level in spinal ganglia was between Th2-L3, while the sympathetic ganglia was between Th6-L3.
In addition, nodosal and celiac ganglia have many positive cells.
In the case of the left M, gastrtocunemius, HRP-positive cells are investigated superior to the injection side in the spinal and sympathetic ganglia.
HRP method is effective for the study of acupuncture mechanism and similarly useful in clinical and neurophysiological study.
