An ultrastructural stereological analysis of the aortic body chief cell of adult rabbits.

The chief cells of the aortic body (subclavian body) of adult New Zealand white rabbits were examined by ultrastructural stereological analysis. The chief cell nuclei occupy 26.5% of the total volume. Dense-core vesicles account for 16.5% of the cytoplasmic volume, followed by mitochondria (11.6%), endoplasmic reticulum (3.3%), and Golgi apparatus (0.6%). The dense-core vesicles measure approximately 131.6 nm in diameter (corrected) and exhibit a heterogeneous size distribution. Both perivascular adrenergic nerve terminals and presumptive afferent terminals presynaptic to the chief cells are observed. The mean synaptic vesicle size of the terminals adjacent to chief cells is 54 nm. The heterogeneous size distribution of the dense-core vesicles of chief cells may indicate the storage of different biogenic amines and/or different secretion or maturation states within the chief cells.