Perivascular noradrenergic and peptide-containing nerves show different patterns of changes during development and ageing in the guinea-pig.
The development of noradrenergic and peptide-containing perivascular nerves in common carotid, mesenteric, renal and femoral arteries of the guinea-pig was studied using the glyoxylic acid fluorescence and indirect immunofluorescence techniques on whole-mount stretch preparations at 6 stages between 6 weeks in utero and two years after birth. The noradrenergic plexus was more dense than the peptide-containing nerve plexuses in all the blood vessels, and, in general, calcitonin gene-related peptide-containing nerves were more numerous than substance P-containing nerves which in turn were more numerous than vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-containing nerves. In mesenteric and carotid arteries, noradrenergic nerve density reached a peak at about 4 weeks after birth that was maintained to old age, whereas the peptide-containing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) nerve plexuses reached a peak at birth and declined thereafter to about half maximum density in old age. In contrast, in the renal and femoral arteries, peptide-containing nerves reached a maximum density at 4 weeks after birth, while noradrenergic nerve density reached a peak around birth; both noradrenergic and peptide-containing nerve plexuses declined in density in old age. Of the 4 vessels studied, the mesenteric artery showed the greatest density of innervation for both noradrenergic and peptide-containing nerves at all stages of development, while the femoral artery was the least innervated. The possibility that some perivascular peptide-containing nerves play a trophic role during development is discussed.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000196:embryology / Q000294:innervation*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000294:innervation; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000294:innervation; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D008638:Mesenteric Arteries / Q000294:innervation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism*; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000294:innervation; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000378:metabolism
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D013373:Substance P; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D009638:Norepinephrine