Van Lommel A, Lauweryns J M
Laboratory of Histopathology, Faculty of Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
J Auton Nerv Syst. 1997 Jul 14;65(1):17-24. doi: 10.1016/s0165-1838(97)00030-1.
Various aspects of the postnatal development of intrapulmonary neuroepithelial bodies (NEB) were quantified in guinea-pigs, rabbits, cats, rats and hamsters. The highest densities of NEB were found at birth, especially in species with very immature neonates. Postnatally this density decreased, most probably by lung expansion and growth. The number of corpuscular cells per NEB generally did not change during postnatal development. Likewise, the volume density of their secretory dense cored vesicles remained unchanged. On the other hand, in most species and especially in those with very immature neonates, the number of intracorpuscular NEB nerve endings increased during postnatal development. At the same time, the number of afferent nerve endings increased at the expense of the efferent ones. We argue that NEB serve a dual function: endocrine and chemoreceptor. The endocrine function, dependent on the number of cells and their content of secretory vesicles, is already well developed at birth and does not mature further. The chemoreceptor function, dependent on the innervation, shows considerable maturation in the postnatal period.
对豚鼠、兔子、猫、大鼠和仓鼠肺内神经上皮小体（NEB）出生后的发育各个方面进行了量化。出生时发现NEB的密度最高，尤其是在新生幼崽非常不成熟的物种中。出生后，这种密度下降，很可能是由于肺的扩张和生长。每个NEB的球细胞数量在出生后发育过程中通常没有变化。同样，其分泌性致密核心囊泡的体积密度也保持不变。另一方面，在大多数物种中，尤其是新生幼崽非常不成熟的那些物种，出生后发育过程中球内NEB神经末梢的数量增加。同时，传入神经末梢的数量增加，而传出神经末梢的数量减少。我们认为NEB具有双重功能：内分泌和化学感受器。依赖于细胞数量及其分泌囊泡含量的内分泌功能在出生时就已经发育良好，并且不会进一步成熟。依赖于神经支配的化学感受器功能在出生后时期表现出相当大的成熟。
