Experimental sensory ganglionectomy by way of suicide axoplasmic transport.

In attempts to destroy selectively the sensory ganglion cells via retrograde axoplasmic transport, either one or the other of the Ricinus communis agglutinins (RCA 60 and RCA 120), highly toxic lectins from castor beans, was topically applied to the proximal stump of the rat trigeminal branches (the mental and supraorbital nerves) or to the sciatic nerve. Within several days, the sensory ganglion cells associated with the nerve to which RCA was applied developed diffuse chromatolysis and subsequent dissolution of neuronal cell bodies. The resultant Wallerian degeneration of their primary afferent fibers could be traced within the brain stem and, in cases with RCA application to the sciatic nerve, within the spinal cord. This observation implies that the central counterpart of the peripheral nerve may be effectively destroyed by way of retrograde axoplasmic transport without direct attack on the target structure, and thus this method may be utilized in the future as a means for controlling various pain problems.