Research paper
The vesicle content of catecholamine-containing axons in the rectum of the domestic fowl: effect of permanganate and chromaffin fixations

https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1838(89)90103-3Get rights and content

Abstract

The ultrastructural appearance of catecholamine-containing (CA) axon profiles in the rectum of the domestic fowl was compared following fixation using the chromaffin reaction or potassium permanganate. As described previously [38], after chromaffin fixation CA-axons in the perivascular plexuses contained many small granular vesicles (SGV) and variable numbers of large granular vesicles (LGV), whereas those in the non-vascular sites contained few small vesicles and were characterised by the presence of elongated LGV. Following fixation in potassium permanganate, CA-axons in both the non-vascular and vascular sites contained many SGV. The SGV were accompanied by variable numbers of large round vesicles which were often devoid of a core. Large vesicles comprised 16 and 26%, respectively, of total vesicles in the vascular and non-vascular axon profiles. The total number of vesicles per CA-axon profile in both the vascular and non-vascular site was not dependent on fixation procedure. It is concluded that the vesicle content of CA-axon profiles in the rectum of the domestic fowl is dependent on the fixative employed.

References (39)

  • G. Fried et al.

    Neuropeptide Y, enkephalin and noradrenaline coexist in sympathetic neurons innervating the bovine spleen

  • I.L. Gibbins

    Lack of correlation between ultrastructural and pharmacological types of non-adrenergic autonomic nerves

    Cell Tissue Res.

    (1982)
  • I.L. Gibbins

    Ultrastructural identification of catecholamine neurons

  • S.L. Green

    Ultrastructure and innervation of the swim-bladder of Tetractenos glaber (Tetradomidae)

    Cell Tissue Res.

    (1984)
  • S.L. Green

    Ultrastructure and Innervation of the Swim-bladder of the Smooth Toadfish

  • T. Hake

    Studies on the reactions of OsO4 and KMnO4 amino acids, peptides and proteins

    Lab. Invest.

    (1965)
  • T. Hökfelt et al.

    Studies on reaction and binding of monoamines after fixation and processing for electron microscopy with special reference to fixation with potassium permanganate

    Histochemie

    (1968)
  • G. Jaim-Etcheverry et al.

    Selective demonstration of a type of synaptic vesicle by phosphotungstic acid staining

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1969)
  • L. Kanerva et al.

    Permanganate fixation demonstrates the monoamine-containing granular vesicles in the SIF cells but not in the adrenal medulla or mast cells

    Histochemistry

    (1977)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text