Summary
The formaldehyde-induced fluorescence technique had shown 5-hydroxytryptamine-containing enteric neurons in the intestine of the teleost Platycephalus bassensis, but did not reveal such neurons in the intestine of Tetractenos glaber or Anguilla australis. Re-examination of these animals with 5-hydroxytryptamine immunohistochemistry showed immunoreactive enteric neurons in the intestine of all three teleost species. The 5-hydroxytryptamine-containing enteric neurons showed essentially the same morphology in all species examined: the somata were situated in the myenteric plexus, extending down into the circular muscle layer, but none were found in the submucosa; processes were found in the myenteric plexus, the circular muscle layer and the lamina propria. It was concluded that the neurons may innervate the muscle layers or the mucosal epithelium, but were unlikely to be interneurons. In a range of teleosts, enterochromaffin cells were found in the intestine of only those species in which the formaldehyde technique did not visualize neuronal 5-hydroxytryptamine. Available evidence suggests that, in vertebrates, 5-HT-containing enterochromaffin cells are lacking only where there is an innervation of the gut mucosa by nerve fibres containing high concentrations of 5-HT.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adamson S, Campbell G (1988) The distribution of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the gastrointestinal tract of reptiles, birds and a prototherian mammal: an immunohistochemical study. Cell Tissue Res 251:633–639
Ahlman H, Enerbäck L (1974) A cytochemical study of the myenteric plexus in the guinea-pig. Cell Tissue Res 153:419–434
Ahlman H, Enerbäck L, Kewenter J, Storm B (1973) The effects of extrinsic denervation on the fluorescence of monoamines in the small intestine of the cat. Acta Physiol Scand 89:429–435
Anderson C (1983) Evidence for 5-HT-containing intrinsic neurons in the teleost intestine. Cell Tissue Res 230:377–386
Anderson C, Campbell G (1984) Evidence of 5-hydroxytryptamine in neurones in the gut of the toad, Bufo marinus. Cell Tissue Res 238:313–317
Baumgarten HG (1967) Vorkommen und Verteilung adrenerger Nervenfasern im Darm der Schleie (Tinca vulgaris). Z Zellforsch 76:248–259
Baumgarten HG, Holstein AF, Owman C (1970) Auerbach's plexus of mammals and man: electronmicroscopic identification of three different types of neuronal processes in myenteric ganglia of the large intestine from rhesus monkey, guinea-pigs and man. Z Zellforsch 106:376–397
Baumgarten HG, Björklund A, Lachenmayer L, Nobin A, Rosengren E (1973) Evidence for the existence of serotonin-, dopamine-, and noradrenaline-containing neurones in the gut of Lampetra fluviatilis. Z Zellforsch 141:33–54
Costa M, Furness JB (1971) Storage, uptake and synthesis of catecholamines in the intrinsic adrenergic neurones in the proximal colon of the guinea-pig. Z Zellforsch 120:364–385
Costa M, Furness JB, Cuello AC, Verhofstad AAJ, Steinbusch HWJ, Elde PR (1982) Neurons with 5-hydroxytryptamine-like immunoreactivity in the enteric nervous system: their visualisation and reaction to drug treatment. Neuroscience 7:351–364
Dahlström A, Ahlman H (1983) Immunocytochemical evidence for the presence of tryptaminergic nerves of blood vessels, smooth muscle and myenteric plexus in the rat small intestine. Acta Physiol Scand 117:589–591
Diab IM, Dinerstein RJ, Watanabe RM, Roth IJ (1976) [3H]morphine localization in myenteric plexus. Science 193:689–691
Donald J, Campbell G (1983) A comparative study of the adrenergic innervation of the teleost heart. J Comp Physiol 147:85–91
Dubois A, Jacobowitz DM (1974) Failure to demonstrate serotonergic neurons in the myenteric plexus of the rat. Cell Tissue Res 150:493–496
Erspamer V (954) Pharmacology of indolealkylamines. Pharmacol Rev 6:425–487
Furness JB, Costa M (1974) The adrenergic innervation of the gastrointestinal tract. Ergeb Physiol 69:1–51
Furness JB, Costa M (1978) Distribution of intrinsic cell bodies and axons which take up aromatic amines and their precursors in the small intestine of the guinea-pig. Cell Tissue Res 188:527–543
Gerzeli G (1961) Presence of enterochromaffin cells in the gut of Amphioxus. Nature 189:237–238
Griffith SG, Burnstock G (1983) Serotoninergic neurons in the human fetal intestine: an immunohistochemical study. Gastroenterology 85:929–937
Holmgren S, Nilsson S (1976) Effects of denervation, 6-hydroxydopamine and reserpine on the cholinergic and adrenergic responses of the spleen of the cod, Gadus morhua. Eur J Pharmacol 39:53–59
Holmgren S, Nilsson S (1983) Bombesin-, gastrin/CCK-, 5-hydroxytryptamine,-, neurotensin-, somatostatin- and VIP-like immunoreactivity and catecholamine fluorescence in the gut of the elasmobranch, Squalus acanthias. Cell Tissue Res 234:595–613
Holmgren S, Grove DJ, Nilsson S (1985) Substance P acts by releasing 5-hydroxytryptamine from enteric neurons in the stomach of the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Neuroscience 14:683–693
Kurian SS, Ferri G-L, De Mey J, Polak JM (1983) Immunohistochemistry of serotonin containing nerves in the human gut. Histochemistry 78:523–529
Legay C, Saffrey MJ, Burnstock G (1984) Coexistence of immunoreactive substance P and serotonin in neurones of the gut. Brain Res 302:379–382
Lison L (1933) La cellule à polyphénols du tube digestif des ascidies, homologue de la cellule de Kultschitzky des vertébrés. CR Soc Biol (Paris) 112:1237–1239
Read JB, Burnstock G (1968) Fluorescence histochemical studies on the mucosa of the vertebrate gastrointestinal tract. Histochemie 16:324–332
Salimova N, Fehér E (1982) Innervation of the alimentary tract in chondrostean fish (Acipenseridae). A histochemical, microspectrofluorimetric and ultrastructural study. Acta Morphol Hung 30:213–222
Uggeri B (1938) Ricerche sulle cellule enterocromaffini e sulle cellule argentofile dei pesci. Z Zellforsch 28:648–673
Vialli M, Erspamer V (1933) Cellule enterocromaffini e cellule basigranulose acidofile nei vertebrati. Z Zellforsch 19:743–773
Watson AHD (1979) Fluorescence histochemistry of the teleost gut: evidence for the presence of serotonergic neurones. Cell Tissue Res 197:155–164
Wolf K (1963) Physiological salines for freshwater teleosts. Prog Fish Cult 25:135–140
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Anderson, C., Campbell, G. Immunohistochemical study of 5-HT-containing neurons in the teleost intestine: relationship to the presence of enterochromaffin cells. Cell Tissue Res. 254, 553–559 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00226505
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00226505