Distribution and origin of nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive nerve fibers in the rat epididymis |
| |
Authors: | N.J. Dun ,S.L. Dun,R.L. Huang,E.C. Dun,C.C. Lai,P.Y.D. Wong,U. Fö rsterman |
| |
Affiliation: | aDepartment of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, OH 43614 USA;bDepartment of Physiology, Hong Kong Chinese University, Shatin, Hong Kong;cDepartment of Pharmacology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany |
| |
Abstract: | Distribution of neuronal nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive (nNOS-IR) nerve fibers and somata in the rat epididymis and major pelvic ganglia was studied by immunohistochemical methods. In the epididymis, the supply of nNOS-IR fibers was highest in the cauda and became progressively fewer toward the caput. In the cauda and corpus, nNOS-IR fibers were distributed throughout the subepithelial tissues and around the epithelium. The pattern of distribution of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)- and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive fibers in the epididymis was similar but the latter was generally more numerous in a given region as compared to that of nNOS-IR fibers. A population of neurons in the major pelvic ganglia were nNOS-, TH- or VIP-IR. Double-labeling studies revealed that few neurons in the major pelvic ganglia contained both nNOS-IR and TH-IR. Whereas nNOS-IR and VIP-IR appeared to co-localize in the same population of pelvic ganglion cells. Similarly, nNOS-IR fibers in the epididymis were mostly VIP-positive and TH-negative. Unilateral injection of the fluorescent tracer Fluorogold into the junction between the vas deferens and the cauda labeled a population of neurons in the right and left major pelvic ganglia, some of which were also nNOS-IR. A small number of dorsal root ganglion cells contained Fluorogold and very few expressed NOS-IR. It may be concluded that nNOS-IR nerve fibers in the rat epididymis arise mainly from neurons in the major pelvic ganglia the major of which express VIP-IR but not TH-IR. The extensive supply of nNOS-immunoreactive fibers around the epithelium and throughout the subepithelial tissues suggests that NO may be closely associated with smooth muscle contraction. |
| |
Keywords: | Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide Choline acetyltransferase Tyrosine hydroxylase Major pelvic ganglion |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|