Summary
Some investigators have postulated that glomus cells of the rat carotid body contain only dopamine (DA), and that the norepinephrine (NE) measured in the carotid body resides only in sympathetic nerve endings and ganglion cells. To investigate this hypothesis, we employed a pharmacologic drug sequence which depleted all carotid body catecholamines and then selectively restored DA levels while keeping NE levels significantly lowered. Analysis of carotid body catecholamines by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) validated this drug regimen. Employing this drug treatment, we examined glomus cells after potassium dichromate cytochemical staining in an effort to distinguish those glomus cell vesicles which still contained appreciable amounts of catecholamine, presumably DA. Glomus cells from rats receiving vehicle orl-dopa (100 mg kg−1 ip) alone had 83 and 97% of their cells stained, respectively. However, glomus cells from reserpinized (5 mg kg−1 ip) animals were largely unstained (89%). Carotid bodies from animals treated with reserpine and then, 24 h later, withl-dopa 90 min prior to sacrifice had about 46% of their glomus cells stained while 54% of the cells were unstained. The results of this last group, coupled with our biochemical data which demonstrated that DA levels were comparable to control values but that NE was 80% depleted, suggest that a significant number of glomus cells did not contain enough catecholamine to react with the dichromate. We believe that these unstained cells may normally contain NE and that glomus cells may be of several types, some containing predominantly DA and others NE.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Böck, P. &Lassman, H. (1973) Histochemische Untersuchungen über die Reserpinwirkung am Glomus caroticum (Ratte).Verhandlunger der Anatomischen Gesellschaft 67, 229–32.
Chen, I. &Yates, R. D. (1969) Electron microscopic radioautographic studies of the carotid body following injections of labelled biogenic amine precursors.Journal of Cell Biology 42, 794–803.
Chen, I. &Yates, R. D. (1982) Two types of glomus cells in the rat carotid body as revealed by α-bungarotoxin (α-Bgt) binding and dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) immunoreactivity.Anatomical Record 202, 30A (abstract).
Chen, I., Yates, R. D. &Duncan, D. (1969) The effects of reserpine and hypoxia on the amine-storing granules of the hamster carotid body.Journal of Cell Biology 42, 804–16.
Doshi, P. S. &Edwards, D. J. (1981) Effects ofl-dopa on dopamine and norepinephrine concentrations in rat brain assessed by gas chromatography.Journal of Chromatography 210, 505–11.
Duncan, D. &Yates, R. D. (1967) Ultrastructure of the carotid body of the cat as revealed by various fixatives and the use of reserpine.Anatomical Record 157, 667–82.
Edwards, D. J. &Rizk, M. (1981) Conversion of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine and deuterated 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine to alcoholic metabolites of catecholamines in rat brain.Journal of Neurochemistry 36, 1641–7.
Eyzaguirre, C. &Fidone, S. (1980) Transduction mechanisms in the carotid body: Glomus cells, putative neurotransmitters and nerve endings.American Journal of Physiology 239, C135–52.
Hanbauer, I. &Hellström, S. (1978) The regulation of dopamine and noradrenalin in the rat carotid body and its modification by denervation and by hypoxia.Journal of Physiology 282, 21–34.
Hansen, J. T. (1981) Chemoreceptor nerve and type A glomus cell activity following hypoxia, hypercapnia, or anoxia: a morphological study in the rat carotid body.Journal of Ultrastructure Research 77, 189–98.
Hansen, J. T. &Christie, D. S. (1981) Rat carotid body catecholamines determined by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.Life Sciences 29, 1791–5.
Hellström, S. (1975a) Morphometric studies of dense-core vesicles in type I cells of rat carotid body.Journal of Neurocytology 4, 77–86.
Hellström, S. (1975b) Type I cells of carotid body from rats treated with 5-OH-dopa andl-dopa: An electron microscopical study.Journal of Neurocytoiogy 4, 439–51.
Hellström, S. &Koslow, S. H. (1975) Biogenic amines in carotid body of adult and infant rats: A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric assay.Acta physiologica scandinavica 93, 540–7.
Hellström, S. &Koslow, S. H. (1976) Effects of glucocorticoid treatment on catecholamine content and ultrastructure of adult rat carotid body.Brain Research 102, 245–54.
Hess, A. (1978) Are glomus cells in the rat carotid body dopaminergic or noradrenergic?Neuroscience 3, 413–18.
Hicks, C. R. (1973)Fundamental Concepts in theDesign of Experiments. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Keenan, C. L. &Koopowitz, H. (1981) Limitations in identifying neurotransmitters within neurons by fluorescent histochemistry techniques.Science 214, 1151–2.
Kobayashi, S. (1976) An autoradiographic study of the mouse carotid body using tritiated leucine, dopa, dopamine and ATP with special reference to the chief cell as a paraneuron.Achivum Histologicum Japonicum 39, 295–317.
Krammer, E. B. (1978) Carotid body chemoreceptor function: Hypothesis based on a new circuit model.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 75, 2507–11.
Lidbrink, P., Jonsson, G. &Fuxe, K. (1974) Selective reserpine-resistant accumulation of catecholamines in central dopamine neurons after DOPA administration.Brain Research 67, 439–56.
McDonald, D. M. &Mitchell, R. A. (1975) The innervation of glomus cells, ganglion cells and blood vessels in the rat carotid body: a quantitative ultrastructural analysis.Journal of Neurocytology 4, 177–230.
Mir, A. K., Al-Neamy, K., Pallot, D. J. &Nahorski, S. R. (1982) Catecholamines in the carotid body of several mammalian species: effects of surgical and chemical sympathectomy.Brain Research 252, 335–42.
Wood, J. G. &Barrnett, R. J. (1964) Histochemical demonstration of norepinephrine at a fine structural level.Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 12, 197–209.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Christie, D.S., Hansen, J.T. Cytochemical evidence for the existence of norepinephrine-containing glomus cells in the rat carotid body. J Neurocytol 12, 1041–1053 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01153349
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01153349