title: Localisation of NADPH-diaphorase and acetylcholinesterase activities and of tyrosine hydroxylase and neuropeptide-Y immunoreactivity in neurons of the hypogastric ganglion of young adult and aged rats.
abstract: Neurons in the hypogastric (main pelvic) ganglia of 4- and 24-month-old male rats were investigated by enzyme histochemical methods for NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities and by immunofluorescence for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) immunoreactivities. Systematic random sampling of standard sized areas of ganglion parenchyma revealed a content (per unit area) of 40.9 +/- 8.41 NADPH-d-positive neurons and 14.42 +/- 6.7 intensely AChE-positive neurons. In the aged rats the staining intensity was unchanged, but reductions in the numbers of cells stained for NADPH-d and AChE were not significantly different. Similar counts of TH- and NPY-immunoreactive neurons revealed values of 23.2 +/- 1.77 and 19.94 +/- 4.9, respectively, suggesting frequent co-localisation. The numbers of TH- and NPY-immunoreactive neurons were found to have decreased with age by 53% and 60%, respectively. Staining of consecutive sections revealed that those neurons which stained positively for NADPH-d did not show immunoreactivity for TH or NPY, and those neurons that were immunoreactive for TH or NPY did not contain intense NADPH-d staining. Occasional NPY-1R neurons were both TH- and NADPH-d-negative. These results suggest that NADPH-d staining is predominantly confined to the parasympathetic neuron population of the hypogastric ganglion and that it is the sympathetic neuron population alone that decreases in number with age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Wales College of Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Warburton
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Santer
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007001:Hypogastric Plexus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase