Summary
On the basis of staining results in closely related semi-thin sections from rat antral mucosa immunostained with polyclonal serotonin antibodies and silver-stained for the argentaffin reaction, respectively, three different cell populations could be distinguished. One of these cell populations showed both serotonin immunoreactivity and an argentaffin reaction, a second one serotonin immunoreactivity alone, and a third one only an argentaffin reaction.
These cell populations were studied electron microscopically in ultra-thin sections located between the stained semi-thin sections. The cell population displaying an agentaffin reaction and serotonin immunoreactivity showed secretory granules of the enterochromaffin cell type. A similar granular appearance was observed in cells which only exhibited an argentaffin reaction. Serotonin immunoreactivity in the absence of an argentaffin reaction was evident in some G (gastrin) cells. and in some D1 and possibly also some D (somatostatin) cells; but not all the endocrine cells of the non-enterochromaffin type displayed serotonin immunoreactivity. The significance of the different reactions in the three cell populations is discussed.
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Portela-Gomes, G.M., Águas, J.M., Matos, A.P. et al. Ultrastructural studies of endocrine cell populations showing an argentaffin reaction and/or serotonin immunoreactivity in the rat antral mucosa. Histochem J 19, 449–453 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01675756
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01675756