Adrenergic and cholinergic innervation of the common bile duct in men and cats.

To clarify whether or not the common bile duct (CBD) has peristaltic movement, the muscular structure and intrinsic innervation were investigated for the full length of the CBD in 50 fresh human autopsy specimens and 50 cats. Nearly the same results were obtained in control groups of humans and cats. 1) Abundant sympathetic noradrenergic innervation, mainly composed of two plexuses, was demonstrated in each layer of the common bile duct tissue. 2) Parasympathetic nervous innervation was also abundant in each layer of the common bile duct and was composed of two ganglionated cholinergic plexuses. 3) Human and cat ganglia were composed of several nerve cells, which were mostly of Dogiel type II. 4) No other biogenic monoamines than adrenaline (A) and noradrenaline (NA) were detected. 5) Digestive tract hormones were undetectable. 6) The presence of smooth muscle was confirmed all along the common bile duct in all cases. The muscular tissue of the CBD was more abundant in humans than in cats. 7) The results of quantitation of catecholamine and acetylcholine esterase in the common bile duct tissue demonstrated a good correlation between biochemical and histochemical activities.