Intrinsic nerves of the pancreas after celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy in rats: a morphologic study of acetylcholinesterase activity and catecholamine histofluorescence.

The effect of surgical celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy (GGX) on intrinsic pancreatic innervation was studied in male Wistar rats. Neurons were stained in the pancreas of control and ganglionectomized rats with histochemical methods evidencing the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and the induced fluorescence of catecholamines. Two segments of the head of the pancreas ("duodenal" and "splenic" segments) were studied. The surface density of neuronal cell bodies was larger in the splenic segment than in the duodenal segment of the head of the pancreas (p less than 0.01), both in control and in ganglionectomized rats. The surface density of the neuronal cell bodies and the intensity of AChE staining were not significantly different in control and in ganglionectomized rats. Most AChE-positive fibers survived after ganglionectomy; only some of them disappeared. These disappearing fibers corresponded to the thinnest fiber bundles found in the pancreatic tissue of control rats. Only 10% of catecholamine fibers remained after ganglionectomy. Some of the remaining fibers may run through direct duodenopancreatic pathways.