Origin of efferent fibers of the renal plexus in the rat autonomic nervous system.

To clarify the origin of efferent nerves containing renal plexus, the retrograde neuronal tracing was utilized with a new exact closed injection system with microcapsules. The microcapsule was positioned in the rat left renal plexus, and the capsule was filled with fluoro-gold. Retrograde labeled cells were observed in the ipsilateral sympathetic trunk, especially T12 and T13, and the ipsilateral suprarenal ganglia (SrG). There were no labeled cells in the parasympathetic nuclei in medulla oblongata and sacral cords. These results indicated that the origins of efferent nerves in the rat renal plexus are almost all sympathetic ganglia, such as sympathetic trunk and SrG, and cells in other ganglia may be secondary or accessory innervations.