Cheng S B, Kuchiiwa S, Kuchiiwa T, Nonaka S, Nakagawa S
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Sakuragaoka 8-35-1, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan.
J Chem Neuroanat. 2001 Sep;22(3):147-55. doi: 10.1016/s0891-0618(01)00125-9.
It is generally considered that parasympathetic postganglionic nerve fibers innervating the lacrimal gland (LG) arise from the pterygopalatine ganglion (PPG), while sympathetic and sensory innervations arise from the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) and trigeminal ganglion (TG), respectively. Recently, we reported for the first time that the parasympathetic innervation of the cat LG was also provided by the otic ganglion (OG) and ciliary ganglion (CG), and that the sensory innervation was also provided by the superior vagal ganglion (SVG) and superior glossopharyngeal ganglion (SGG). To determine if nitric oxide (NO) is a neurotransmitter of the autonomic and sensory neurons innervating the LG, we injected the cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) as a retrograde tracer into the cat LG, and used double-labeling fluorescent immunohistochemistry for CTB and nitric oxide synthase (NOS). We found that NOS-/CTB-immunofluorescent double-labeled perikarya were localized in the PPG, OG, TG, SVG and SGG, but not in the CG and SCG. The highest numbers of NOS-/CTB-immunofluorescent double-labeled neurons were found in the PPG and TG. In addition, we examined the presence of nitrergic nerve fibers in the LG using NADPH-d histochemistry and found that a large amount of NADPH-d-stained nerve fibers were distributed around the glandular acini and in the walls of glandular ducts and blood vessels. This study provides the first direct evidence showing that NO may act as a neurotransmitter or modulator involved in the parasympathetic and sensory regulation of lacrimal secretion and blood circulation, but may not be implicated in the sympathetic control of LG activities, and that nitrergic nerve fibers in the LG arise mainly from parasympathetic postganglionic neurons in the PPG and sensory neurons in the TG. The present results suggest that NO plays an important role in the regulation of LG activities.
一般认为，支配泪腺（LG）的副交感神经节后神经纤维起源于翼腭神经节（PPG），而交感神经和感觉神经支配分别起源于颈上神经节（SCG）和三叉神经节（TG）。最近，我们首次报道猫泪腺的副交感神经支配也由耳神经节（OG）和睫状神经节（CG）提供，并且感觉神经支配也由迷走神经上神经节（SVG）和舌咽神经上神经节（SGG）提供。为了确定一氧化氮（NO）是否是支配泪腺的自主神经和感觉神经元的神经递质，我们将霍乱毒素B亚基（CTB）作为逆行示踪剂注入猫的泪腺，并使用CTB和一氧化氮合酶（NOS）的双标记荧光免疫组织化学方法。我们发现，NOS-/CTB免疫荧光双标记的核周体位于PPG、OG、TG、SVG和SGG中，但不在CG和SCG中。在PPG和TG中发现的NOS-/CTB免疫荧光双标记神经元数量最多。此外，我们使用NADPH-d组织化学方法检查了泪腺中是否存在含氮能神经纤维，发现大量NADPH-d染色的神经纤维分布在腺泡周围以及腺管和血管壁中。本研究提供了首个直接证据，表明NO可能作为一种神经递质或调节剂参与泪液分泌和血液循环中的副交感神经和感觉调节，但可能不参与泪腺活动的交感神经控制，并且泪腺中的含氮能神经纤维主要起源于PPG中的副交感神经节后神经元和TG中的感觉神经元。目前的结果表明NO在泪腺活动的调节中起重要作用。
