title: Cerebral perivascular serotonergic fibres have a peripheral origin in the gerbil.
abstract: The origin of serotonergic nerves supplying the large cerebral vessels of the gerbil has been investigated after bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy. Immunohistochemical techniques were applied to whole-mount stretch preparations of the cerebral vessels. Removal of both ganglia resulted in the complete loss of immunoreactive fibres in the vessels supplied by the internal carotid artery and in a marked reduction of fibres innervating vessels of the vertebro-basilar system, indicating that most of the cerebrovascular serotonergic nerves have a peripheral sympathetic origin in the gerbil. The contrast with the central origin of serotonergic perivascular nerves claimed in the rat is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000294:innervation; D001338:Autonomic Fibers, Postganglionic / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005849:Gerbillinae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000378:metabolism; D010841:Pia Mater / Q000098:blood supply; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin