Noradrenergic innervation of developing rat and spiny mouse liver. Its relation to the development of the liver architecture and enzymic zonation.

The development of noradrenergic innervation of rat liver was studied with a polyclonal antiserum against noradrenaline. Nerves are first seen in the larger portal vessels at day 1 after birth and reach their final distribution at 5 days after birth i.e. at the same time as the establishment of the acinar architecture and the heterogeneous distribution of NH3-metabolizing enzymes. The latter distribution of nerves is already seen at birth in the liver of the closely related but precocial spiny mouse. This shows that the onset of extrinsic sympathetic innervation is regulated by the developmental stage of the animal rather than by adaptation to extrauterine life. Chemical sympathectomy at birth with 6-hydroxydopamine did not eliminate the developmental appearance of heterogeneous distributions of NH3-metabolizing enzymes.