Regulatory peptides in the gastrointestinal tract of Alligator mississipiensis. An immunocytochemical study.

The gastrointestinal tract of the alligator Alligator mississipiensis has been investigated for the presence of immunoreactivity to fourteen regulatory peptides all known to occur in the mammalian gut system. Mucosal endocrine cells reacting specifically with the antisera to neurotensin, C-terminal gastrin, somatostatin, bombesin, secretin, pancreatic glucagon and enteroglucagon were detectable, the distribution of these cells being, in general, similar to the mammalian pattern. Peripheral nerve cell bodies and nerve fibres were detected with the antisera to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, substance P, bombesin and somatostatin again with a distribution similar to that seen in mammals. No immunoreactivity was observed with the available antisera to glicentin, motilin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, gastrin 34, cholecystokinin 9-20 and met-enkephalin.