Adrenergic and cholinergic innervation of the supraduodenal common bile duct.

The in-built intrinsic adrenergic and cholinergic nervous apparatus of the supraduodenal common bile duct of the cat and the dog was studied using modern selective specific neurohistochemical technics. A rich distribution of fluorescing varicose adrenergic axons and small nerve fascicles was observed within all layers of the duct. The cholinergic innervation was even more richly developed, including large nerve fascicles and nerve trunks as well as cholinergic nerve cells and small ganglia. The present observations corroborate the theory that the common bile duct actively participates, under dual neural control, in biliary dynamics and is not merely a passive conducting tube.