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Monoamine fluorescence and electron microscopic studies on small intensely fluorescent (granule‐containing) cells in human sympathetic ganglia
Author(s) -
Chiba Tanemichi
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.901790110
Subject(s) - biology , monoamine neurotransmitter , efferent , axon , granule (geology) , electron microscope , fluorescence , vesicle , population , cytoplasm , cholinergic , anatomy , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , afferent , serotonin , biochemistry , membrane , receptor , quantum mechanics , sociology , optics , paleontology , physics , demography
In the present study, surgically removed adult human sympathetic ganglia were explored for the presence of small intensely fluorescent (SIF) cells using a combined monoamine fluorescence and electron microscopic method (Chiba et al., '76b). It was confirmed that SIF or granule‐containing (GC) cells exist as a persisting constituent of the ganglia. The population of SIF cells in human sympathetic ganglia was found to be much smaller than that of the rat and the guinea pig. Most SIF cells were found as small clusters in the connective tissue stroma in close relationship with blood vessels. GC cells were characterized by large polymorphic granular vesicles (100–300 nm in diameter) in their cytoplasm. Most GC cells were innervated by cholinergic axons which most probably originated from preganglionic sympathetic neurons. No efferent synapses were found from GC cells as far as they were examined. Axon varicosities containing small dense granular vesicles (50 nm in diameter) may correspond to varicose fluorescent network of axons among principal ganglionic neurons. The functional significance of SIF or GC cells in human sympathetic ganglia was discussed in the light of the present observations.