MORPHOLOGY AND RESPONSE TO VAGUS NERVE-SECTION OF THE INTRA-EPITHELIAL AXONS OF THE RAT TRACHEA - A QUANTITATIVE ULTRASTRUCTURAL-STUDY

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 132  (MAY) , 331-339
Abstract
The fine structure and distribution of the axons in the epithelium of the left and right sides of the trachea were studied in control rats and in rats subjected to unilateral infranodose vagotomy. In control rats the axons were ultrastructurally similar to those identified in the cornea and in the submucous plexuses of the ureter. Stereological analysis showed that there are considerable differences in the degree of orientation of the axons and in the density of the intra-epithelial plexus on the 2 sides of the trachea. Degenerating axons were frequently present in the epithelium 1 day after vagotomy and degeneration and elimination of the axons by phagocytosis by the epithelial cells was completed within 3 days of section of the nerve. Data obtained from animals killed 3 days after vagotomy indicated that almost all of the intra-epithelial axons are derived directly from the vagus and that, although the majority of the axons in the epithelium on one side of the trachea are derived from the ipsilateral nerve, approximately one-fifth are derived from the vagus nerve of the opposite side.