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The carotid body after oxygen deficiency

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Summary

The following results have been obtained in electron and fluorescence microscopic studies on the carotid body of the white rat after oxygen deficiency:

  1. 1.

    Extreme oxygen deficiency (2.5% O2 in the air) results in a discharge of the catecholamine bodies of the receptor cells.

  2. 2.

    The essential stages of the discharge which can be morphologically analysed are as follows: the movement of the catecholamine bodies to the periphery of the cell as far as the cytoplasmic membrane; the fusion and the rupture of both the cytoplasmic membrane of the receptor cell and the bounding membrane of the catecholamine body; discharge of the entire contents of the catecholamine bodies into the intercellular space. After discharge, the former membrane of the catecholamine body remains as part of the cytoplasmic membrane of the receptor cell.

  3. 3.

    Further effects of oxygen deficiency are: swelling of the mitochondria, disintegration of the chromatin particles of the nucleus, an increase in the number of nuclei pores and a distension of the perinuclear cleft in the receptor cells.

  4. 4.

    The discharge of the catecholamine bodies proved by electron microscopic studies, can be confirmed by means of the fluorescence microscope: after 20 mts. of extreme hypoxia the catecholamines vanish almost completely from the receptor cells.

  5. 5.

    The significance of the discharge of the catecholamine bodies for the function of the receptor cells is discussed with reference to recent publications and our own physiological experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Pathology, University of Münster, Germany

    S. Blümcke, J. Rode & H. R. Niedorf

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  1. S. Blümcke
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  2. J. Rode
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  3. H. R. Niedorf
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Supported by the „Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft“.

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Blümcke, S., Rode, J. & Niedorf, H.R. The carotid body after oxygen deficiency. Z. Zellforsch. 80, 52–77 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331477

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331477

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