[Adrenergic innervation of the smooth muscle cells of the cauda epididymis of the mouse].

The adrenergic innervation in the smooth muscle of the cauda epididymidis of the mouse was investigated by a fluorescence technique using glyoxylic acid and by electron microscopy. As in other species, this innervation is well developed in the terminal segment of the epididymis. It varies according to muscular type: the small myocytes of the proximal zone of the tail have a visceral contractile innervation, while for the typical muscle of the distal region, the pattern is a multiple-unit one. In the mouse, the nexus are more numerous than in man and in the monkey, and constitute a facilitating factor.