Parasympathetic innervation of cutaneous blood vessels examined by retrograde tracing in the rat lower lip.

The origin of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-immunoreactive and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-positive perivascular nerve fibers in the lower lip of rats was investigated using the retrograde tracer, wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to enzymatically inactive horseradish peroxidase gold complex (WGAapoHRP-Au), in combination with immunohistochemistry and enzyme histochemistry, by comparing the cells of origin of projection to the parotid gland. After the application of the tracer to the lip, small- to medium-sized nerve cells were labelled exclusively in the ipsilateral otic ganglion. Most of them showed moderate VIP-immunoreactivity and AChE activity. In contrast, injection into the parotid gland resulted in labelling of mostly large-sized cells of the otic ganglion which showed intense VIP-immunoreactivity and AChE activity. These results confirmed that the parasympathetic innervation of the rat lip originates from the otic ganglion. It was further suggested that there are at least two subpopulations in the otic ganglion cells, different from each other in size and in VIP-immunoreactivity, which separately innervate the salivary gland and the blood vessels.