engleski

A new surgical approach for applying neuronal tracer on the rat heart

Surgical approaches that are presently used in heart innervation studies are either quite invasive or they do not allow precise manipulation of different parts of the rat heart, especially the atria. Thus, the aim of our study was to develop and evaluate a new surgical approach to the rat’s mediastinum. Our new, diaphragmectomy-based approach consists of a midline abdominal incision with the elevation of the xiphoid process that allows visualization of the abdominal surface of the diaphragm. The cut along the midline of the diaphragm includes both its central tendinous portion as well as its muscular part. A patch loaded with Fast Blue (FB) powder was successfully applied to all four chambers of the heart (both atria and ventricles). Sectioning of the patch-attached areas revealed satisfactory penetration of the tracer into the chamber’s wall producing intense labeling of neurons in nodose and dorsal root ganglia. Advantages of our diaphragmectomy-based approach include: minimal trauma, maximal visibility, precise patch attachment to the beating heart and quick recovery of the animals.

Surgery; heart; diaphragmectomy; rat

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