title: Demonstration of noradrenaline-immunoreactive nerve fibres in the liver.
abstract: To demonstrate noradrenaline-immunoreactive nerve fibres in liver tissues, we used an antibody to noradrenaline in the immunostaining of liver tissues from rats, guinea-pigs and humans. The tissue specimens were fixed by perfusion or immersion with cacodylate buffer containing sodium metabisulphate and glutaraldehyde, and cryostat sections were prepared. An indirect peroxidase-labelled antibody method was used for staining noradrenaline. Noradrenaline-immunoreactive nerve fibres were localized around blood vessels in the portal area and around the central vein. There were differences between the species in the intralobular distribution of noradrenaline-immunoreactive fibres. Normal guinea-pig and human liver showed intralobular noradrenaline-immunoreactive fibres while rat liver did not. Noradrenaline-immunoreactive fibres were absent from regenerating nodules in a human cirrhotic liver. This method of demonstrating noradrenaline directly using perfusion- or immersion-fixation is appropriate for studying innervation in normal and damaged livers of various species including humans.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000378:metabolism*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D009638:Norepinephrine