Phytochemical screening and effect of aqueous extract of Ficus sycomorus L. (Moraceae) stem bark on muscular activity in laboratory animals.

The stembark of Ficus sycomorus was collected, dried and extracted to screen for some chemical constituents and study its effect on muscle contraction. The duodena and recti abdominis of 10 guinea pigs weighing between 330 and 34 g and 10 frogs weighing between 180 and 201 g, respectively were isolated and used for this study. The extract was tested to see its effect on acetylcholine-induced contraction on kymograph. The extract reduced the acetylcholine contractile responses of guinea pigs duodena and recti abdominis muscles of frogs significantly, thus showing inhibitory effect on muscle contraction. The extract showed the presence of gallic tannins, saponins, reducing sugars, alkaloids and flavone aglycones. It was concluded that the extract has inhibitory effect on both smooth and skeletal muscles contractions and contains important constituents for pharmacological activities.

Phytochemical screening and effect of aqueous extract of Ficus sycomorus L. (Moraceae) stembark on muscular activity in laboratory animals.

The stembark of Ficus sycomorus was collected, dried and extracted, to screen for some chemical constituents and study its effect on muscle contraction. The duodena and recti abdominis of 10 guinea pigs weighing between 330 and 345 g and 10 frogs weighing between 180 and 201 g, respectively, were isolated and used for this study. The extract was tested to see its effect on acetylcholine (ACH) induced contraction on kymograph. The extract reduced the acetylcholine contractile responses of guinea pigs duodena and recti abdominis muscles of frogs significantly, thus showing inhibitory effect on muscle contraction. The extract showed the presence of gallic tannins, saponins, reducing sugars, alkaloids and flavone aglycones. It was concluded that the extract has inhibitory effect on both smooth and skeletal muscles contractions and contains important constituents for pharmacological activities.

An enzyme tracer study of the organization of the somatic motor center for the innervation of different muscles of the tongue: evidence for two sources.

The hypoglossal nucleus has been described as the sole ipsilateral source of somatic motor innervation of the lingual and geniohyoideus muscles (Streeter, '40; Barnard, '40; Crosby et al., '62; Watkins, '78; Jenkins, '78). In this study microliter amounts of 30% solution of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were injected into intact but surgically isolated canine genioglossus, hyoglossus, styloglossus, geniohyoideus, and intrinsic lingual muscles. All injections were confined to the left half of the tongue, and the right half served as control. The HRP injections resulted in ipsilateral labeling of hypoglossal neurons with the exception of the injections into the genioglossus muscle, which labeled this nucleus bilaterally. Surprisingly, a few neurons associated with the ventromedial aspect of the caudal pole of the ipsilateral facial motor nucleus also labeled after injections of lingual muscles. The somatotopic representation of the geniohyoideus and lingual muscles within the hypoglossal nucleus suggested that those muscles known to originate from the same or related primodia labeled in the same or closely related hypoglossal subnuclei. The presence of labeled neurons associated with facial motor nucleus supported the hypothesis (Langman, '75) of a possible dual origin of lingual muscles.

The origins of the afferent fibers to the lingual muscles of the dog, a retrograde labelling study with horseradish peroxidase.

The origin of the afferent fibers to the lingual muscles of the dog was investigated by means of retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) from injection sites in the tongue and the extrinsic lingual muscles. Intralingual injections were not satisfactory because the enzyme diffused beyond the intrinsic lingual muscles to include virtually all tissues within the tongue. Thus, the resultant retrograde labeling of cell bodies of the trigeminal, geniculate, glossopharyngeal, vagal, and first cervical (C1) spinal ganglia represented a composite of lingual sensory innervation. In order to confine HRP uptake to intramuscular nerve endings, injections were limited to surgically isolated extrinsic lingual muscles, i.e., the genioglossus, hyoglossus, and styloglossus. After these intramuscular injections, labeled neurons appeared ipsilaterally in the C1 spinal ganglion, the proximal vagal (jugular) ganglion, and trigeminal ganglion. Earlier suggestions that the lingual proprioceptive neurons of the dog reside in the distal vagal (nodose) ganglion and hypoglossal ganglia were not confirmed. The mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve failed to label after enzyme injections into the tongue or the extrinsic lingual muscles. The retrograde labeling of cell bodies in the C1 spinal ganglion was abolished when HRP injections into the extrinsic lingual muscles were preceded by surgical interruption of the ansa cervicalis or distal section of the hypoglossal nerve. Retrograde labeling of neurons in the proximal vagal ganglion persisted after hypoglossal nerve transections.

Autonomic innervation of the tongue: a horseradish peroxidase study in the dog.

Autonomic ganglia have been found along the lingual nerve in the rostral two-thirds of the canine tongue and along the glossopharyngeal nerve in the caudal glandular third of the tongue [4,17,18]. A 30% horseradish peroxidase (HRP) solution was injected throughout these ganglionated areas in order to identify the origin of the preganglionic fibers to the lingual ganglia. These injections resulted in ipsilateral retrograde labeling of small multipolar neurons in the lateral reticular formation of the medulla oblongata. The same injections labeled neurons in the ipsilateral cranial cervical ganglion, but preganglionic sympathetic neurons in the thoracic spinal cord were not labeled. These findings indicated that the lingual ganglia consist of parasympathetic neurons which receive preganglionic projections from the medulla. The lingual preganglionic neurons were located within the nucleus reticularis parvicellularis and, in this location, were co-extensive with salivatory neurons that labeled after HRP injections in the mandibular and sublingual salivary glands. A degree of somatotopic organization within the lingual preganglionic group was indicated by the results of regional injections of enzyme and was confirmed by performing unilateral chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal neurectomies prior to extensive bilateral injections of HRP.

Motor and sensory centers for the innervation of mandibular and sublingual salivary glands: a horseradish peroxidase study in the dog.

Horeradish peroxidase was injected at multiple sites in the mandibular and sublingual salivary glands in order to label the preganglionic salivatory neurons in the brain stem. The same injections resulted in retrograde labeling of the sympathetic and sensory neurons that project to these glands. Labeled fusiform and multipolar salivatory neurons were found ipsilaterally in the lateral reticular formation of the medulla where they extended over the rostral four-fifths of the facial nucleus and the caudal one-third of the dorsal nucleus of the trapezoid body. The vast majority of the small and medium-sized, labeled neurons appeared in thally at the ventral and lateral aspects of the facial nucleus. Enzyme injections into these glands labeled sympathetic neurons that were concentrated in the caudal one-third of the ipsilateral cranial cervical ganglion. Labeled sensory neurons were distributed randomly in the ipsilateral proximal vagal and geniculate ganglia. Large numbers of sensory neurons were concentrated ventromedially within the mandibular zone of the trigeminal ganglion.

Surgical procedure for exposure of the chorda tympani in dogs: a ventral approach.

An experimental neuroanatomic investigation of the innervation of the dog's tongue by the method of retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase required that chorda tympani neurectomy be performed in neonatal pups. Surgical exposure and transection of the chorda tympani proximal to its union with the lingual branch of the mandibular nerve in the past has been accomplished by radical lateral approach which is suited only for acute experimentation. This report describes a ventral surgical exposure of the extracranial portion of the chorda tympani in the dog. This surgical procedure permits long-term survival and is considered especially useful for the chronic neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic investigations on the role of the chorda tympany in taste, salivation and lingual vasodilation in the dog.