Kulkarni A P, Getchell T V, Getchell M L
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington 40536.
J Comp Neurol. 1994 Jul 1;345(1):125-38. doi: 10.1002/cne.903450110.
Nitric oxide synthase is the enzyme responsible for the production of the free radical gas nitric oxide, which has been implicated as an intercellular messenger in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Immunoreactivity for nitric oxide synthase is often coincident with the histochemical demonstration of NADPH-diaphorase activity. Using an antibody to the neuronal form of nitric oxide synthase and a histochemical technique for NADPH-diaphorase, we have compared the localization of immunoreactivity and histochemical reaction product in the nasal mucosae of rats and humans. Immunoreactivity for neuronal nitric oxide synthase was localized in the extrinsic perivascular innervation of the olfactory and vomeronasal mucosae of rats and in the olfactory mucosa of humans. In the rat nasal mucosa, specific groups of glands were also innervated; the density of nitrinergic innervation varied among them, with vomeronasal glands and posterior glands of the nasal septum being the most densely innervated. In contrast, NADPH-diaphorase activity was present in olfactory, vomeronasal, and septal organ receptor neurons in rats and in olfactory receptor neurons in humans as well as in numerous nerve fibers, glands, and surface epithelial cells. The localization of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in extrinsic perivascular and periglandular nerve fibers suggests that nitric oxide may modulate the perireceptor processes of local blood flow and mucus secretion that influence the access to and clearance of chemical stimuli from rat and human chemosensory mucosae.
一氧化氮合酶是负责产生自由基气体一氧化氮的酶，一氧化氮已被认为是中枢和外周神经系统中的一种细胞间信使。一氧化氮合酶的免疫反应性通常与NADPH-黄递酶活性的组织化学显示一致。使用针对神经元型一氧化氮合酶的抗体和NADPH-黄递酶的组织化学技术，我们比较了大鼠和人类鼻黏膜中免疫反应性和组织化学反应产物的定位。神经元型一氧化氮合酶的免疫反应性定位于大鼠嗅黏膜和犁鼻黏膜的血管外神经支配以及人类的嗅黏膜中。在大鼠鼻黏膜中，特定的腺群体也有神经支配；其中，硝酸能神经支配的密度各不相同，犁鼻腺和鼻中隔后腺的神经支配最为密集。相比之下，NADPH-黄递酶活性存在于大鼠的嗅、犁鼻和鼻中隔器官受体神经元以及人类的嗅受体神经元中，以及许多神经纤维、腺体和表面上皮细胞中。神经元型一氧化氮合酶在血管外和腺周神经纤维中的定位表明，一氧化氮可能调节局部血流和黏液分泌的感受器周围过程，这些过程会影响大鼠和人类化学感受性黏膜对化学刺激的接触和清除。
