Coexistence of somatostatin and neurotensin in amacrine cells of the chicken retina.

A comparison of previous immunocytochemical studies reveals a striking similarity in the morphologies of the populations of somatostatin-like and neurotensin-like immunoreactive amacrine cells in the chicken retina. A double-label analysis was performed to determine if these two neuroactive peptides coexist in chicken amacrine cells. An examination of retinal cryosections collected throughout the retina revealed that all labelled cells express both somatostatin- and neurotensin-like immunoreactivity. Therefore, these results indicate the presence of a single population of chicken amacrine cells whose members contain both of these neuroactive peptides.