Lumbosacral plexus of the mongolian gerbil(Meriones unguiculatus Milne-Edwards, 1867)

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The Mongolian gerbil, belonging to the Muridae family, is characterized as an economic asset in the pet market due to its easy management. Current research analyzes and describes the origin of the nerves that make up the lumbosacral plexus in the species, foregrounding comparative anatomy, especially among wild rodents. The experiment, approved by the Committee of Institutional Bioethics, involved 15 animals which had been used in other studies and were donated to the Laboratory of Applied Animal Morphophysiology of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The animals were fixed in a water solution of formaldehyde 10%. After 72 hours, they were dissected, the abdominal cavity was opened and eviscerated, and the psoas minor, psoas major and the quadratus lumborum muscles were removed to inspect the nerves that form the lumbosacral plexus. Results were given in percentages and grouped in tables. The lumbosacral plexus of the Mongolian gerbil frequently derived from the ventral roots of the last thorax nerves, from the seven lumbar nerves and from the four sacral nerves (Type II -T 12 -S 4 ). The nerves of the gerbil´s lumbosacral plexus are the iliohypogastricus, ilioinguinalis, cutaneus femoris lateralis, genitofemoralis, femoralis, obturatorius, ischiadicus, gluteus cranialis, pudendus, gluteus caudalis and rectales caudales nerves. Information on the origin of the nerves of the gerbil´s lumbosacral plexus and their description is relevant for clinical and surgical studies, and for the application of techniques or anesthetic drugs.

The lumbosacral plexus in two Didelphis species (Didelphidae, Didelphimorphia): origin and nerve distribution

“…The femoral nerve in D. aurita and D. albiventris was formed mainly by the union between the L3 and L4 branches, similarly observed in the Mongolian gerbil (Araújo-Júnior et al, 2016) andD. marsupialis (Sepúlveda-Vásquez andTamayo-Arango, 2023).…”

“…In eutherian species, this nerve was formed of the lumbosacral trunk in the agouti (Oliveira et al, 2016); last lumbar branch and the last three sacral in the giant anteater (Ribeiro, 2012;Cruz et al, 2014) and lesser anteater (Cardoso et al, 2013); by the last two lumbar and first two sacral branches in crested porcupine (Aydin, 2009), red squirrel (Aydin, 2010), paca (Tonini et al, 2014), brownthroated three-toed sloth (Silva, 2017). No contribution from the sacral branches to the formation of the sciatic nerve was observed in the Mongolian gerbil (Araújo-Júnior et al, 2016).…”

“…marsupialis (Sepúlveda-Vásquez andTamayo-Arango, 2023). The cranial gluteal nerve emerges independently from the ventral branch of L2, S1 and S2 in the giant anteater (Cruz et al, 2014); L3 in the female crested porcupine (Aydin, 2009); L3 and L4 in the male crested porcupine (Aydin, 2009); L3, L4 and S1 in the brownthroated three-toed sloth (Silva, 2017); L5 and L6 in the Mongolian gerbil (Araújo-Júnior et al, 2016); L6 and L7 in paca (Tonini et al, 2014); L7 in rock cavy (Lacerda et al, 2006), yellow-toothed cavy (Oliveira et al, 2014) and agouti (Oliveira et al, 2016).…”

“…In this study, the formation of the lumbosacral plexus consisting of the femoral, obturator, sciatic, cranial gluteal and caudal gluteal nerves will be considered, as these are of greater relevance for locomotion (Lacerda et al, 2006;Aydin, 2009;Aydin, 2010;Cardoso et al, 2013;Cruz et al, 2014;Oliveira et al, 2014;Tonini et al, 2014;Araújo-Júnior et al, 2016;Oliveira et al, 2016;Senos et al, 2016;Silva, 2017;Dyce et al, 2019;König and Liebich, 2021;De Oliveira et al, 2023). In addition, the pudendal nerve was included because it is associated with the lumbosacral trunk and innervates the perineal muscles.…”

Origin and Antimeric Distribution of the Obturator Nerves in the New Zealand Rabbits

“…In laboratory rats, the obturator nerve was formed from L2, L3, and L4 (16) , which was partially similar to another muridae, Meriones unguiculatus, since its major origin was from L3 and L4 (17) . In Galea spixii, the origin was from ventral spinal branches of L5 and L6 for the majority of the specimens (18) .…”