Objective to clarify the exact route of sympathetic axons reaching the peripheral artery, and pave the way for the development of new surgical strategies for sympathetic denervation. Methods Firstly, femoral neurovascular bundles from 10 neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were harvested for whole-mount immunostaining to show sympathetic innervation pattern of the artery. Secondly, 40 Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 350~400 g were assigned to five groups, receiving either sham, perivascular sympathectomy, nerve-artery separation, nerve transection in the femoral neurovascular bundle or lumbar sympathectomy surgery that removes the lumbar sympathetic trunks. Immediately after surgery, the arterial perfusion and diameter were measured using Laser speckling contrast imaging, and one week later the femoral neurovascular bundles were harvested for immunostaining using antibodies against TH, neuron-specific β-tubulin (Tuj 1) , and α-SMA to show the presence or not of the TH immuopositive staining in the adventitia. Finally, 30 rats were divided into the above five groups and underwent corresponding surgery. The abdominal flap was haverstedand the necrotic area of the flap was measured 7 days later. Differences between the five groups were determined using one-way ANOVA. Results For the neonatal rats, an average of (2.8±0.8) branches with a diameter of (4.8±1.2) μm derived from the femoral nerve that morphed into a primary and a scondary sympathetic chains for innervation the femoral artery. Nerve-artery separation, nerve transection, and lumbar sympathectomy could eradicate sympathetic nerves of the artery, resulting, respectively, in a 22.5 %, 36.7 % and 59.2 % increase in diameter (P<0.05), and a 51.5%、63.4% and 201.3% increase in perfusion compared to sham surgery (P<0.01). In contrast, perivascular sympathectomy did not have a significant impact on the sympathetic nerves, the diameter and perfusion of the distal part of the artery (P>0.05). Corresponding to the changes of blood perfusion, nerve-artery separation, nerve transection and lumbar sympathectomy could significantly reduce the necrosis rate of abdominal flap (P<0.001). Conclusions sympathetic innervation of the femoral artery originates from the segmental sympathetic branches emanating from the accompany femoral nerve. There are three potential ways that can eradicate the sympthetic innervation of an artery.
Key words
Sympathetic nerve /
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Arterial innervation /
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Flap /
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Ischemia
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