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Nitric oxide synthase-containing neurons in rat parasympathetic, sympathetic and sensory ganglia: a comparative study

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Summary

In rats, the distribution of nerve structures staining for NADPH-diaphorase, and showing immunoreactivities for nitric oxide synthase (NOS), tyrosine hydroxylase and various neuropeptides was studied in sensory ganglia (dorsal root, nodose and trigeminal ganglia), in sympathetic ganglia (superior cervical, stellate, coeliac-superior and inferior mesenteric ganglia), parasympathetic ganglia (sphenopalatine, submandibular, sublingual and otic ganglia), and in the mixed parasympathetic/ sympathetic ganglia (major pelvic ganglia). The coincidence of neuronal cell bodies with strong NOS-immunoreactivity and strong NADPH diaphorase reactivity was almost total. The relative proportions of NOS-immunoreactive nerve cell bodies were largest in parasympathetic ganglia and major pelvic ganglia followed by sensory ganglia. In sympathetic ganglia no NOS-immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies could be detected. In parasympathetic and major pelvic ganglia, there was a very significant neuronal co-localization of immunoreactivities for NOS and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). This was almost total in major pelvic ganglia, in which NOS-/VIP-immunoreactive nerve cell bodies were separate from sympathetic (tyrosine hydroxylase-/neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive), suggesting that NOS-/VIP-immuno-reactive neurons might also be parasympathetic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Lund, Lund University Hospital, S-221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Per Alm

  2. Department of Urology, University of Lund, Lund University Hospital, S-221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Bengt Uvelius

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Lund, Lund University Hospital, S-221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Bo Holmqvist

  4. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Lund, Lund University Hospital, S-221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Bengt Larsson & Karl-Erik Andersson

  5. Department of Pharmacology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jörgen Ekström

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  1. Per Alm
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  2. Bengt Uvelius
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  4. Bo Holmqvist
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Alm, P., Uvelius, B., Ekström, J. et al. Nitric oxide synthase-containing neurons in rat parasympathetic, sympathetic and sensory ganglia: a comparative study. Histochem J 27, 819–831 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388306

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388306

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