Species differences in vascular connections between the adrenal and the kidney in the monkey, human and dog

The extrinsic innervation of the rat kidney

The anatomy of the extrinsic renal nerves is described making use of an in toto staining procedure for acetylcholinesterase activity. Nervous connections between the kidney and the celiac plexus, major and minor splanchnic nerves, the lumbar splanchnic nerves and the intermesenteric nerve plexus have been established. Bundles of nerve fibers enter or leave the kidney in the (peri-) hilar region. The occurrence of inter- and intraindividual variability is emphasized. Implications of these findings for the use of the rat as an experimental animal in denervation experiments are discussed.