SENSORY SUBSTANCE-P INNERVATION OF THE STOMACH AND PANCREAS - DEMONSTRATION OF CAPSAICIN-SENSITIVE SENSORY NEURONS IN THE RAT BY COMBINED IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND RETROGRADE TRACING

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 87  (4) , 914-921
Abstract
The sensory innervation of the stomach and pancreas was identified by retrograde tracing using the fluorescent dye True Blue (Illing, Gross-Umstadt, West Germany), coupled with the immunohistochemical localization of substance P. Labeled cells were visualized in spinal ganglia, nodose ganglia, celiac ganglion and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus after injection of True Blue into both stomach and pancreas. Substance P immunoreactivity was found in 35-50% of gastric spinal afferent neurons and in .apprx. 15% of pancreatic spinal afferents. In rats treated at birth with the sensory neurotoxin capsaicin there was a reduction of .apprx. 70% in True Blue-labeled cells in the spinal and nodose ganglia, and virtually complete loss of substance P in these ganglia. There was also a marked depletion of substance P-immunoreactive fibers in the pancreas, and in the submucosa of the stomach. The substance P-containing spinal afferents that project to the gastric submucosa evidently are an important component of the gastric sensory innervation.

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