Distribution and immunohistochemical characterisation of paracervical neurons innervating the oviduct in the pig

Krzysztof Czaja; Krzystof Wąsowicz; Magdalena Klimczuk; Piotr Podlasz; Mirosław Łakomy

Vol 60, No 3 (2001)

Original article

Submitted: 2012-02-06

Published online: 2001-05-29

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Distribution and immunohistochemical characterisation of paracervical neurons innervating the oviduct in the pig

Krzysztof Czaja, Krzystof Wąsowicz, Magdalena Klimczuk, Piotr Podlasz, Mirosław Łakomy

Folia Morphol 2001;60(3):205-211.

Vol 60, No 3 (2001)

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Submitted: 2012-02-06

Published online: 2001-05-29

Abstract

The present study was aimed at disclosing the distribution of paracervical neurons projecting to the ampulla and isthmus of the porcine oviduct and the pattern(s) of co-existence of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine ß-hydroxylase (DßH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) within these nerve cell bodies. The fluorescent retrograde tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the wall of the ampullar (n = 3) and isthmal (n = 3) part of the organ in six sexually immature female pigs. After a survival period of three weeks paracervical ganglia (PCG) were collected. 10 µm-thick cryostat sections of the ganglia were examined for the presence of FB-positive (FB+) nerve cells under the fluorescent microscope. Tracered neurons were counted in every third section and processed for double-labelling immunofluorescence according to the method of Wessendorf and Elde. 78.6% of FB+ neurons were projecting to the isthmus while 21.4% of the studied population innervated the ampulla of the oviduct. Double-labelling immunofluorescence revealed the existence of the following different chemically coded subpopulations of the studied perikarya: TH+/D bH+, TH+/NPY+, TH+/NOS+, TH+/ NOS-, SP-/NOS+, SP+/CGRP+.