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Adrenergic innervation of the gut musculature in vertebrates

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Summary

The adrenergic innervation of the gut musculature has been compared in various vertebrates (two teleost fish, an amphibian, a reptile and a mammal) by the fluorescent histochemical localization of certain monoamines. Very few, if any, adrenergic nerves occur within the longitudinal gut muscle of any of these animals, except for the taenia coli of the guinea-pig caecum. In contrast, the circular smooth muscle coat is supplied by varicose adrenergic nerves. These nerve fibres are particularly numerous in the toad large intestine, guinea-pig caecum, and throughout the eel gut, but are generally sparse or absent from the musculature of the stomach and small intestine of the trout, toad, lizard and guinea-pig. The extent of adrenergic innervation of the muscle has been discussed in relation to the physiology of the different muscle coats and to the general structure of the enteric plexuses in the vertebrate gut.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Julia B. Read & G. Burnstock

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  1. Julia B. Read
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  2. G. Burnstock
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Read, J.B., Burnstock, G. Adrenergic innervation of the gut musculature in vertebrates. Histochemie 17, 263–272 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309871

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309871

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