Origin of sympathetic and sensory innervation of the knee joint

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Abstract
The origin of sympathetic and sensory innervation of the knee joint was investigated by the intra-axonal transport method. After injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or horseradish peroxidase conjugated to wheat germ agglutinin (WGA-HRP) into the knee joint unilaterally in adult rats, labelled neurons were found ipsilaterally both in sympathetic and dorsal root ganglia at the lower thoracic and lumbosacral levels. A maximum of 1500 and 1000 peroxidase-positive cells were observed in the sympathetic and dorsal root ganglia, respectively; in the former they were mainly located at the levels of L2–L4, and in the latter mainly at L3–L5. The functional implications of the above observations are discussed in relation to pain mechanisms in joints and to the earlier hypothesis that a nervous component might be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic joint inflammation.