Kuwayama Y, Grimes P A, Ponte B, Stone R A
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
Exp Eye Res. 1987 Jun;44(6):907-22. doi: 10.1016/s0014-4835(87)80053-2.
We traced the origin and path of autonomic nerves to the rat eye using, as an aid to dissection, a modified thiocholine method for the histochemical demonstration of cholinesterase. When applied to whole nerves and ganglia supplying the rat eye, this procedure is not specific for cholinergic neurons; instead it stains both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, many of which are otherwise too fine to identify in dissection. We found that nerves from the superior cervical and pterygopalatine ganglia form a plexus at the orbital apex corresponding to the retro-orbital plexus found in rabbit, monkey and man. In the rat, nerves from the retro-orbital plexus travel peripherally to the superior surface of the optic-nerve sheath. Here, they fuse with long ciliary nerves and the post-ganglionic nerves from the ciliary ganglion to form another dense nerve-fiber plexus that ultimately supplies the eye. Importantly, the plexus on the optic nerve contains many isolated or aggregated ganglion cells. These are comparable in number to those in the ciliary ganglion itself and are assumed to be accessory ciliary neurons. Using immunohistochemistry, we also sought evidence for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in these ganglia and nerves. As previously known, many pterygopalatine ganglion cells are immunoreactive for this peptide. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like immunoreactive nerve fibers are present in nerves from the retro-orbital plexus to the optic-nerve sheath plexus, in most nerves of the latter plexus, and in most nerves entering the eye. Furthermore, a small proportion of nerve cells in the main and accessory ciliary ganglia also are immunoreactive for VIP. We conclude that in addition to the pterygopalatine ganglion, the ciliary ganglion and its accessory ganglia are sources of VIP-like immunoreactive nerves in the rat eye.
我们采用改良硫代胆碱法进行胆碱酯酶的组织化学显示，以此辅助解剖，追踪大鼠眼部自主神经的起源和路径。当将该方法应用于支配大鼠眼睛的整个神经和神经节时，它并非胆碱能神经元所特有的；相反，它会使交感神经和副交感神经都显色，其中许多神经在解剖时过于纤细而难以辨认。我们发现，来自颈上神经节和翼腭神经节的神经在眶尖形成一个神经丛，这与在兔、猴和人类中发现的眶后神经丛相对应。在大鼠中，来自眶后神经丛的神经向视神经鞘的上表面外周延伸。在这里，它们与长睫状神经以及来自睫状神经节的节后神经融合，形成另一个密集的神经纤维丛，最终为眼睛提供神经支配。重要的是，视神经上的神经丛包含许多孤立的或聚集的神经节细胞。这些细胞的数量与睫状神经节本身的细胞数量相当，被认为是副睫状神经元。我们还利用免疫组织化学方法，寻找这些神经节和神经中存在血管活性肠肽的证据。如先前所知，许多翼腭神经节细胞对这种肽具有免疫反应性。血管活性肠肽（VIP）样免疫反应性神经纤维存在于从眶后神经丛到视神经鞘神经丛的神经中、后一神经丛的大多数神经中以及进入眼睛的大多数神经中。此外，主睫状神经节和副睫状神经节中的一小部分神经细胞对VIP也具有免疫反应性。我们得出结论，除了翼腭神经节外，睫状神经节及其副神经节也是大鼠眼中VIP样免疫反应性神经的来源。
