Yamamoto M, Kondo H, Nagatu I
Department of Anatomy, Kanazawa University, School of Medicine, Japan.
J Anat. 1989 Dec;167:137-46.
By immunolight and electron microscopy, the epithelioid, granule-containing cells within the wall of circumscribed portions of the thoracic aorta, the common carotid artery, the carotid body artery and those composing the carotid body itself of newly hatched chicks were shown to contain serotonin (5-HT), neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). No nerve fibres immunoreactive for any of these three substances were found in relation to the granule-containing cells. All the granule-containing cells were immunoreactive for 5-HT. The proportion of 5-HT cells simultaneously immunoreactive for NPY or TH in the total cell population varied in different portions of the arteries and the carotid body: NPY-immunoreactive cells were more numerous in the thoracic and common carotid arterial walls, while TH-immunoreactive cells were much more numerous in the carotid body. Since the granule-containing cells within the arterial wall, because of similarities in their anatomical features to the carotid body, are presumed to function as the arterial chemoreceptor, the difference in content of the amines and peptides among the granule-containing cells in different locations may reflect some differences in the chemoreceptive mechanism between the cells in different locations along the thoracocervical arterial tree.
通过免疫荧光和电子显微镜观察发现，新孵出雏鸡的胸主动脉、颈总动脉、颈动脉体动脉的局限性部分壁内以及构成颈动脉体本身的含颗粒上皮样细胞含有5-羟色胺（5-HT）、神经肽Y（NPY）和酪氨酸羟化酶（TH）。未发现与含颗粒细胞相关的对这三种物质中任何一种呈免疫反应的神经纤维。所有含颗粒细胞对5-HT均呈免疫反应。在动脉和颈动脉体的不同部位，同时对NPY或TH呈免疫反应的5-HT细胞在总细胞群中的比例各不相同：在胸主动脉和颈总动脉壁中，NPY免疫反应性细胞较多，而在颈动脉体中，TH免疫反应性细胞则多得多。由于动脉壁内的含颗粒细胞因其解剖特征与颈动脉体相似，被推测具有动脉化学感受器的功能，不同位置含颗粒细胞中胺和肽含量的差异可能反映了胸颈动脉树不同位置细胞之间化学感受机制的一些差异。
