[Functional state of the sympathetic nervous system in animals during chemical carcinogenesis]

Acute experiments on rats were made to investigate the synaptic transmission of impulses through the inferior mesenteric sympathetic ganglion in health and in different periods after a single injection of the hepatocarcinogen, 4-dimethyl-aminoazobenzene (DAB). It was found that on the second after carcinogen injection there occurs a considerable disturbance of impulse transmission through the sympathetic ganglia. This manifested in the increased latent period of the appearance of action potentials in the intestinal and hypogastric nerves, in the prolonged process of potential conduction, and in the decreased amplitude and frequency of impulse transmission through the ganglion when stimulating the preganglionic nerve. Injection of the carcinogen leads to functional sympathectomy of organs and tissues, thereby creating the conditions for penetration of its metabolites to the cells followed by their malignancy.