title: Innervation of rat abdominal paraganglia by calretinin-like immunoreactive nerve fibers.
abstract: The extended hepatic pedicle of the rat containing the vagal hepatic branch and associated paraganglia was dissected as whole mount, processed for calretinin immunocytochemistry, and analyzed by laser-scanning confocal microscopy. About half of the 8-12 paraganglia of the region were innervated to a various degree by calretinin-immunoreactive (CAL-IR) nerve fibers that formed basket-like varicose terminals around small clusters of glomus tissue. Neither the numerous capillaries, nor the occasional non-CAL-IR neuron accompanying some paraganglia, were recipients of CAL-IR terminals. In animals with prior left cervical vagotomy the number of CAL-IR fibers was decreased but not abolished. Since about 30% of neurons in the nodose ganglia, a few neurons within the vagal hepatic branch/hepatic hilus area, and numerous neurons in the gastric myenteric plexus were CAL-IR, these neurons represent other potential sources of CAL-IR innervation of the paraganglia.
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 70808, USA. berthohr@mhs.pbrc.edu
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Berthoud
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D064032:Calbindin 2; D008099:Liver / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000737:chemistry; D009620:Nodose Ganglion / Q000737:chemistry*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C576512:Calb2 protein, rat; D064032:Calbindin 2; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G