title: Innervation of lung and heart in the ray-finned fish, bichirs.
abstract: Anatomical and functional studies of the autonomic innervation in the lung and the heart of the bichirs are lacking. The present review paper describes the presence of nerve fibers located in the muscle layers of the lung and its submucosa, the collection of unipolar neurons found in the submucosal and muscle layers of the glottis in a bichir species (Polypterus bichir bichir). Putative oxygen chemoreceptive, neuroepithelial cells (NECs) in the lung mucosa are also included. The latter share many immunohistochemical characteristics similar to those observed in the carotid body and neuroepithelial bodies of mammals. A packed collection of paraganglion cells is located within the trunk of the pulmonary vagus nerves. The paper also examines the occurrence of intracardiac neurons and nerve fibers in the heart of the above species. These studies show that various neurotransmitters may indicate different patterns of innervation in the lung and the heart of the bichirs. However, there is still much to be discovered about the lung and cardiovascular nervous control of these primitive fishes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology and Marine Ecology, Faculty of Science, Section of Comparative Neurobiology and Biomonitoring, University of Messina, Via Salita Sperone 31, I-98166 Messina, Italy. gzaccone@unime.it
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zaccone
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mauceri
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maisano
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fasulo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation*; D008168:Lung / Q000294:innervation*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents