title: Distribution of NADPH-diaphorase activity in the embryonic chicken gut.
abstract: The appearance and distribution of NADPH-diaphorase activity in neuronal cells and fibres in different regions of the embryonic chicken gut was studied histochemically using whole mount preparations and cryostat sections. NADPH-diaphorase activity was detected in neuronal cell bodies as early as embryonic day 5.5 (E5.5 - the earliest age examined), mainly in the foregut, although some positive cells were also seen in the hindgut at this stage. NADPH-diaphorase-positive fibres were first detected in the developing nerve tracts which connect the ganglia at E5.5. The complexity of the network was maximal in the proventriculus-gizzard junction. By E9.5, NADPH-diaphorase-positive fibres were found in the circular muscle layer. NADPH-diaphorase-positive submucosal neurons were first detected at E11.5. The density of innervation was maximal at E15.5 and declined later development. The expression of neuronal NADPH-diaphorase activity progressed in a craniocaudal direction and followed a developmental pattern similar to that previously described for several neuropeptides in the avian gut.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balaskas
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Saffrey
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burnstock
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004064:Digestive System / Q000196:embryology* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000294:innervation; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase