Westlund K N, Coulter J D
Brain Res. 1980 Dec;2(3):235-64. doi: 10.1016/0165-0173(80)90009-0.
Spinal projections originating in the dorsolateral pons in the ventral locus coeruleus and in the subcoeruleus and medial parabrachial nuclei were identified in monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) using the retrograde horseradish peroxidase tracing technique. Anterograde autoradiographic tracing studies were then carried out to determine the brain stem and spinal cord terminations of the neurons. Finally, results obtained with the axonal transport tracing methods were compared with the pattern of staining for noradrenergic cells and terminals revealed immunocytochemically with an antibody to dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DbetaH), the synthesizing enzyme for norepinephrine. The major findings of these studies are that two presumed noradrenergic cell groups of the dorsolateral pons, one corresponding to the nucleus locus coeruleus, the second to the subcoeruleus/medial parabrachial nuclei, give rise to descending projections. They differ significantly in their patterns of termination in the lower brain stem and spinal cord. Among the major terminations of the locus coeruleus pathway are projections to parasympathetic neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, the region of the nucleus ambiguus, and the sacral spinal cord. The terminations of the descending subcoeruleus/medial parabrachial pathway, in contrast, include projections to sympathetic preganglionic neurons of the intermediolateral cell column of the thoracic cord and heavier projections to somatic cranial nerve nuclei. Both pathways have additional widespread and bilateral terminations in various nuclei of the reticular formation, in the spinal dorsal horn (including the marginal zone), in the region around the central canal and in the ventral spinal gray matter. Since the origins and terminations of both these pathways correspond closely to the locations and patterns of terminations of noradrenaline-containing neurons, demonstrated here with DbetaH immunocytochemistry, norepinephrine (or epinephrine) is suggested to be the transmitter in both these descending systems.
运用逆行辣根过氧化物酶追踪技术，在猕猴（食蟹猴）中确定了起源于腹侧蓝斑、蓝斑下核和内侧臂旁核背外侧脑桥的脊髓投射。随后进行了顺行放射自显影追踪研究，以确定这些神经元在脑干和脊髓的终末。最后，将轴突运输追踪方法获得的结果与用多巴胺-β-羟化酶（DβH，去甲肾上腺素的合成酶）抗体免疫细胞化学显示的去甲肾上腺素能细胞和终末的染色模式进行了比较。这些研究的主要发现是，背外侧脑桥的两个假定的去甲肾上腺素能细胞群，一个对应于蓝斑核，另一个对应于蓝斑下核/内侧臂旁核，发出下行投射。它们在脑干下部和脊髓的终末模式上有显著差异。蓝斑通路的主要终末包括投射到迷走神经背运动核的副交感神经元、疑核区域和骶脊髓。相比之下，下行蓝斑下核/内侧臂旁通路的终末包括投射到胸段脊髓中间外侧细胞柱的交感节前神经元以及向躯体脑神经核的更密集投射。这两条通路在网状结构的各个核团、脊髓背角（包括边缘区）、中央管周围区域和脊髓腹侧灰质中都有额外的广泛双侧终末。由于这两条通路的起源和终末与含去甲肾上腺素神经元的位置和终末模式密切对应，这里用DβH免疫细胞化学证明，提示去甲肾上腺素（或肾上腺素）是这两条下行系统中的神经递质。
