A quantitative profile of autonomic innervation of canine left atria and pulmonary veins: implications for atrial fibrillation
GAO Chong-Han, WANG Fei, JIANG Rong, ZHANG Jin, YIN Ti-Hui
Chinese Journal of Clinical Anatomy ›› 2011, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (2) : 197-201.
A quantitative profile of autonomic innervation of canine left atria and pulmonary veins: implications for atrial fibrillation
Objective To quantitatively determine the cardiac autonomic innervation in different regions of the left atria and pulmonary veins in dogs and investigate its implications in atial fibrillation. Methods 8 healthy adult mongrel dogs were euthanized immediately after acute physiological experiments. The heart and great vessels were rapidly removed en bloc through a median sternotomy. Tissue samples were obtained from the posterior left atrium (PLA), left atrial roof (LAR), anterior left atrium (ALA), interatrial septum (IAS), left atrial appendage (LAA) and pulmonary veins (PVs). Nerve density of tissue samples were determined by immunohistochemical staining and comupter-assisted morphometric analysis system. Results Sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves distributed through the LA and PVs in a similar way. Both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve densities decreased in the order: PLA>PV>IAS>LAR>ALA>LAA. For sympathetic nerves, multiple comparisons between any two regions showed a significant difference(P<0.05 or P<0.01) except for PV versus PLA (P=0.211), IAS versus LAR (P=0.140), and LAR versus ALA(P= 0.204); for parasympathetic nerves, all the differences between any pair of regions were statistically significant (P<0.05 or P<0.01) with the exception of PV versus PLA(P= 0.256), IAS versus LAR(P=0.130), LAR versus ALA (P= 0.238), and ALA versus LAA (P=0.124). For both nerve types, there was a decreasing gradient of nerve densities from the external to internal layer(P<0.001,each comparisons). Nerve density for either nerve type was significantly higher at the ostia than the distal segments of PVs(P<0.001). Conclusions The left atria and PVs are innervated by sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in a regionally heterogeneous way, which may has close relation with the initiation and perpetuation of AF and be of important significance for AF ablation.
Atrial fibrillation / Cardiac autonomic nerves / Left atria / Pulmonary vein
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