PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN ABDOMINAL SYMPATHETIC GANGLIA OF ANIMALS WITH FULMINATING EXPERIMENTAL DIARRHEA
Abstract
The abdominal vegetative nervous system was studied in Walter Reed strain guinea pigs with experimental diarrhea produced by the method of Kalas. During the diarrheal phase, the regional abdominal sympathetic ganglia are normal, but after approximately 72 hr. changes which we interpret as 'central chromatolysis' take place in the ganglion cells. The latter remain uniformly and severely swollen for 10--18 days, when chronic changes and eventually cell death can be seen in occasional neurons. Most of the sympathetic nerve cells, however, have recovered by the 20th day, leaving a few pyknotic neurons behind in the ganglion. We conclude that local ischemia within the bowel wall, during the severe propulsive diarrhea, is responsible for damage to intramural nerves and the subsequent ascending axonal reaction. The significance of these findings is discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 10, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0648616
Entities
People
- Helmuth Sprinz
- Jean-r. Dupont
Organizations
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research