Are there somatostatin-containing nerves in the rat gut? Immunohistochemical evidence for a new type of peripheral nerves.

Antibodies to somatostatin, a recently isolated hypothalamic peptide inhibiting growth hormone release, were used in immunohistochemical studies on the gastrointestinal tract. Somatostatin containing cells in the stomach, and somatostatin-containing nerves in the small and large intestine, could be demonstrated. These findings give evidence of a new type of nerve in the gut.