The origins of the adrenergic fibres which innervate the internal anal sphincter, the rectum, and other tissues of the pelvic region in the guinea-pig

Summary

The adrenergic innervation of the pelvic viscera was examined by the fluorescence histochemical technique, applied to tissue from untreated guinea-pigs and from guinea-pigs in which nerve pathways had been interrupted at operation. It was found that adrenergic neurons in the inferior mesenteric ganglia give rise to axons which run in the colonic nerves and end in the myenteric and submucous plexuses and around the arteries of the distal colon. In the rectum, part of the innervation of the myenteric plexus and all of the innervation of the submucous plexus comes from the inferior mesenteric ganglia. The rest of the adrenergic innervation of the myenteric plexus comes from the posterior pelvic ganglia or the sacral sympathetic chains. The innervation of the blood vessels of the rectum is from the posterior pelvic ganglia. Adrenergic nerves run from the sacral sympathetic chains and pass via nerves accompanying the rectal arteries to the internal anal sphincter. Other adrenergic fibres to the internal anal sphincter either arise in, or pass through, the posterior pelvic plexuses. The anal accessory muscle is innervated by adrenergic axons arising in the posterior pelvic plexuses. Adrenergic nerves which run in the pudendal nerves, probably from the sacral sympathetic chains, innervate the erectile tissue of the penis.