Ultrastructural study of the nerve plexus accompanying the ovarian artery and vein in the rat.

The ultrastructural characteristics of the nerve plexus that accompanies the ovarian vessels of the rat were studied. The nerve fibers were primarily unmyelinated with less than 5% myelinated. Two types of neuronal cell bodies were found along these nerves. They were located at variable distances along the nerve bundle. The first and more numerous was a larger cell type similar to the autonomic postganglionic neuron. The second and smaller cell type had granulated vesicles throughout the cytoplasm. Synapses of the axodendritic type and synapses between the neuronal cell bodies were found. Most of the synapses possessed agranular vesicles. The presence of neuronal cell bodies is an important characteristic to consider in evaluating denervation of the ovary by interruption of this nerve plexus.