Differential control of renal and splenic nerves without medullary topography

A previous study in our laboratory showed that pharmacological blockade of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla has greater influence on the electrical activity of renal than splenic nerves (K. Hayes and L. C. Weaver, J. Physiol. Lond. 428: 371-385, 1990). This differential control of sympathetic nerves innervating different organs may be due to viscerotopic representation of the kidney and spleen within medullary neurons that control the vasculature. To search for this topographical organization, 15 nl (2.5 nmol) of the excitatory amino acid DL-homocysteic acid (DLH) was microinjected into the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) of rats anesthetized with urethan. No distinct viscerotopic organization was found in the rostral or caudal VLM. However, renal nerve responses were consistently greater than splenic by a fixed proportion. In summary, stimulation of rostral and caudal VLM neurons causes differential renal and splenic excitatory responses, but mechanisms providing this selective control do not involve spatial organization of neuronal groups in the VLM.