[Observations on the morphology of the pelvic ganglion of the female rat].
In the female rat the pelvic ganglia are situated bilaterally on the surfaces of the rectum and the vagina at the level of the vaginal fornices. They are broom-, club- or long S-shaped, measuring 4-7 mm (long diameter) by 2-4 mm (short diameter) by 1-2 mm (thickness). The ganglion cells are mainly multipolar, though bipolar or unipolar ones are sometimes observed, and range from about 20 to 50 mu in diameter. Clusters of smaller type cells about 7 to 25 mu in diameter, regarded as chromaffin cells, were found in the ratio of 1 to 50 or 70 ganglion cells, using a silver impregnation method. In the majority of ganglion cells, on the surface of cell bodies and processes upon which numerous cholinergic nerve endings are located, the histochemical reaction for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was of varied intensity. The so-called small, intensely fluorescent cells (SIF cells) arranged in clusters were observed by the formaldehyde-induced fluorescence method. The "vacuolated nerve cells", which contain 1 to 10 or more vacuoles of up to about 20 mu in diameter, were observed in the ganglion. Ultrastructurally the vacuoles contained various numbers of inclusion bodies of different sizes, shapes and structures. These cells showed a synaptic formation with complex membrane specializations on their surface.
D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010388:Pelvis / Q000294:innervation*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000110:Acetylcholinesterase