Projection of forelimb nerve afferents to external cuneate nucleus of the rat as revealed by intraneual injection of a neurotoxic lectin, Ricinus communis agglutinin

Abstract

This study seeks to extend the observations of previous studies of projection of primary afferent fibres from the forelimb nerves and muscles to the external cuneate nucleus (ECN) of mammals using a neurotoxic lectin, Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA) to achieve chemical ganglionectomy of the dorsal root ganglia. Following intraneural injection of RCA into the three main forelimb nerves, namely the radial, ulnar and median nerves, terminal degeneration of the primary afferent fibres in the ECN was studied under the light microscope by means of the Fink-Heimer method. The results show that the primary afferent fibres from these three nerves project to the medial part of the ECN. The field of terminal degeneration take a crescentic form. The projection from the median nerve was most dorsally located whereas that from the radial nerve was the most ventral with extensive overlaps between them. Of the three nerves, the projection from the radial nerve was the most dense. Rostrocaudally, the three nerves also show extensive overlaps. The rostrocaudal extent of maximum terminal degeneration was greatest for the radial nerve and least for the median nerve. Analysis of variance showed that these differences were statistically significant. This suggests that the radial nerve has the most extensive projection to the ECN and the median nerve the least.