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Cytochemistry of 5-hydroxytryptamine at the electron microscope level

II. Localization in the autonomic nerves of the rat pineal gland

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Summary

The nerves of rat pineal gland are known to contain norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine. With the glutaraldehyde-dichromate reaction for the cytochemical localization of unsubstituted catechol- and indoleamines, dense reactive granules could be demonstrated in such endings. A similar reaction was observed in the adrenergic nerves supplying the vas deferens and storing exclusively norepinephrine. Formaldehyde fixation, prior to the glutaraldehyde-dichromate treatment, interferes with the reaction given by catecholamines not affecting the indolic reactive sites. After this combined procedure pineal nerves still exhibited the dense reactive granules, while these were not found in the nerves of the vas deferens. Following bilateral cervical sympathectomy reactive granules disappeared from the perivascular processes of the pineal gland. No reaction could be observed in the cytoplasm of parenchymal cells neither in their perivascular processes.

These cytochemical results suggest that both catecholamines and 5-hydroxytryptamine are contained within the granulated vesicles of pineal nerves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Anatomía General y Embriología, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo Jaim Etcheverry & Luis M. Zieher

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  1. Guillermo Jaim Etcheverry
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  2. Luis M. Zieher
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This work has been supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina and U.S.Air Force (AF-AFOSR 963-66).

Fellow of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina. We want to express our gratitude to Prof. E. De Robertis for his constant help and encouragement; and to Miss Nélida Fernández Oranges, Mr. Raúl Castelli and Mr. Alberto Sáenz for their skillful technical assistance.

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Jaim Etcheverry, G., Zieher, L.M. Cytochemistry of 5-hydroxytryptamine at the electron microscope level. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 86, 393–400 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00332477

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00332477

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