Striatal neurons containing both somatostatin- and avian pancreatic polypeptide (APP)-like immunoreactivities and NADPH-diaphorase activity: a light and electron microscopic study.

Striatal neurons containing both somatostatin- and avian pancreatic polypeptide (APP)-like immunoreactivities have been shown to be selectively stained by the histochemical method for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase activity. In the present study, we have utilized this histochemical technique to examine the morphology of these striatal neurons at the light and electron microscopic levels. Our results indicate that the striatal somatostatin/APP/NADPH-diaphorase neurons occur throughout the striatum and have long, aspiny dendrites, oval, invaginated nuclei with prominent nucleoli, and receive few axosomatic contacts. These cells appear to correspond to a population of medium-sized aspiny interneurons reported previously in Golgi and electron microscopic studies of the striatum.