title: Immunohistochemical demonstration of GABA containing neurons in the guinea pig ileum using purified GABA antiserum.
abstract: Antisera against GABA were prepared by immunizing rabbits with GABA conjugated to bovine serum albumin by glutaraldehyde and the antisera were then purified using a GABA immobilized epoxy-activated affinity column. Affinity chromatography and GABA-immobilized epoxy-activated agarose gels were made use of for the reduction of the cross-reactivities of GABA antiserum against endogenous amino acids. The purified GABA antiserum showed remarkably less cross-reactivity. Using this purified GABA antiserum, we noted numerous GABA-like immunoreactive (GABA-positive) nerve fibers in the myenteric meshworks and a few GABA-positive fibers exiting from the myenteric plexus of guinea pig ileum. In the myenteric ganglia, there were GABA-positive nerve cells and GABA-positive varicose fibers surrounding or running along the non-immunoreactive nerve cells. The direct visualization of enteric GABA neurons provides further support for the proposal that GABA is a neurotransmitter in the guinea pig small intestine.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007082:Ileum / Q000294:innervation*; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology*; D007120:Immunochemistry; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid