Morphological study of the vagal afferent nerve endings in the laryngeal mucosa of the dog.

The afferent nerve endings in the laryngeal mucosa of the dog were investigated by immunohistochemical staining specific for neurofilament protein of whole-mount preparation. In the laryngeal mucosa, two kinds of nerve endings, namely, laminar and glomerular endings, were observed. The laminar endings were distributed on the laryngeal side of the epiglottis, the mucosa overlying the arytenoid cartilage and the vocalis muscle. The laminar endings were 100-350 microns long and 60-200 microns wide. Some axons gave rise to a single ending while others continued to two endings. The terminal portions were round, oval or triangular in shape, and occasionally had an immunopositive rim with a negative center. Cryostat sections revealed that the laminar endings were located immediately beneath the laryngeal epithelium. The endings were flattened and extended in two dimensions. The glomerular endings could be divided into two subtypes, large ones and small ones. The large ones were 150-250 microns long and 90-200 microns wide, and they were distributed in the mucosa of the intercartilaginous part of the glottis and the laryngeal side of the epiglottis. Several nerve fibers were gathered in the subepithelial region and arranged in a glomerular pattern. In some large glomerular endings, the terminal portions formed laminar arborizations. The small glomerular endings were 100-200 microns long and 40-120 microns wide, and their distribution was restricted to the mucosa of the corniculate process of the arytenoid cartilage. They were simple in terms of shape and were also located in the subepithelial region. Some small endings were accompanied by mucosal protrusions and were located near taste buds. Dogs that had been subjected to surgical denervation of the internal branch of the cranial (superior) laryngeal nerve suggested that both the laminar and the glomerular endings were mainly derived from this branch of ipsilateral side.