Electron microscopic and pharmacologic evidence for a functional adrenergic innervation of the smooth musculature in the human fallopian tube

Autor: Nils-Otto Sjöberg, B. Sporrong, Ch. Owman, B. Walles, G. Helm
Rok vydání: 1982
Předmět:
Zdroj: Brain Research Bulletin. 9:695-699
ISSN: 0361-9230
DOI: 10.1016/0361-9230(82)90174-5
Popis: Triple fixation for electron microscopy of the isthmic region of the human Fallopian tube distinguished adrenergic nerve terminals through their content of synaptic vesicles with a diameter of 50-60 nm. Non-vascular adrenergic nerves were found both outside and within smooth muscle bundles. Adrenergic varicosities, partly devoid of their Schwann cell ensheathing, frequently approached the smooth muscle cells within a distance of about 200 nm, and sometimes as close as 60-100 nm. These close contacts often occupied a considerable area of the naked varicosity. Electrical field stimulation of adrenergic nerves in the isthmic smooth muscle preparations in vitro induced an alpha-receptor mediated, frequency-dependent contractile response. The results show that the sympathetic nerves in the human Fallopian tube are able to exert a motor control of its smooth musculature, and may thus be involved in local functions essential for the normal fertilization process.
Databáze: OpenAIRE