The chemical heterogeneity of cortical interneurons: nitric oxide synthase vs. calbindin and parvalbumin immunoreactivity in the rat.

Neurons that contain nitric oxide synthase (NOS) type I and the calcium binding proteins calbindin D28k or parvalbumin were simultaneously visualized by means of double immunohistofluorescence in the cerebral cortex of Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats. All the three immunoreactive cell populations were primarily represented by nonpyramidal neurons. NOS-immunoreactive cells were less numerous than the calbindin- or parvalbumin-immunoreactive ones, and were intermingled with the neurons containing these calcium binding proteins. NOS-immunoreactive cells were separate from the parvalbumin-immunoreactive ones, whereas a minor proportion of them was found to be colocalized with calbindin. The cortical neurons in which NOS and calbindin coexisted were more numerous in the Sprague-Dawley than in the Wistar rats, and displayed an anteroposterior gradient of density, with the highest concentration in the medial prefrontal, frontal, and cingulate cortices. Double NOS-calbindin-immunoreactive neurons prevailed in the deep cortical layers and they were relatively numerous in the cingulate cortex. The present data indicate a selectivity in the expression of NOS vs. calbindin and parvalbumin in cortical cells, and further support the chemical heterogeneity of GABAergic interneurons in the cerebral cortex.