Enkephalin- and serotonin-like immunoreactivity in the aortico-pulmonary paraganglia of the white-belly opossumDidelphis albiventris (Marsupialia) |
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| Authors: | H. Gobbi A. J. A. Barbosa J. C. Nogueira J. M. Polak V. P. A. Teixeira H. O. Almeida |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil;(2) Department of Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil;(3) Department of Histochemistry, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK;(4) Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil;(5) DAPML-Faculdade de Medicina UFMG, Av. Alfredo Balena, 190, 30130 Belo Horizonte, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Summary Serial histological sections of the interatrial septum and basal heart vessels of the weaned and juvenile white-belly opossum (Didelphis albiventris) were obtained in order to study the presence of paraganglia and their content of regulatory peptides and serotonin. Paraganglion groups were mapped between the aorta and pulmonary arteries and close to the bifurcation of the pulmonary trunk and were found to contain cells with immunoreactivity to serotonin and to the neuroendocrine markers PGP 9.5 and NSE. When these paraganglia were tested for immunoreactivity to a battery of regulatory peptides, all were found to be positive for methionin-enkephalin, leucine-enkephalin and galanin. The hypothesis is raised that these peptides and serotonin, besides catecholamines, produced by these paraganglia may play a physiological role in the functions of the cardiovascular system of the white-belly opossum.Work supported by grants from FINEP and CNPq (Brazil). |
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