Abstract
The present study investigated the possible presence of markers for nitric oxide synthesis in brainstem preganglionic parasympathetic neurons involved in control of the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands of rabbits and rats. Retrograde axonal tracing was performed with biotinylated dextran to identify preganglionic parasympathetic salivatory neurons and combined with NADPH diaphorase histochemistry or nitric oxide synthase immunohistochemistry. The results of the double-labelling experiments demonstrated that most of the retrogradely labelled preganglionic parasympathetic neurons in rabbits contained the markers for nitric oxide synthesis, whereas, in rats most retrogradely labelled neurons lacked the markers for nitric oxide synthesis. These observations suggest that nitric oxide could influence ganglionic transmission in parasympathetic pathways controlling salivary secretion in the rabbit, but not in the rat.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 128-132 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Neuroscience letters |
| Volume | 204 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Feb 1996 |
Keywords
- Brainstem
- NADPH diaphorase
- Nitric oxide
- Parasympathetic
- Retrograde tracing
- Salivatory nucleus