Coexistence of nitrergic and acetylcholinesterase (ACHE)-positive nerve structures of the phaesant spleen

The coexistence of neuronal NADPH-diaphorase and ACHE activities were investigated in the phaesant spleen by successive double histochemical staining of the same sections. Two types of nerve structures were found in pheasant the spleen: nerve cells and nerve fibres. NADPH-d and ACHE-positive nerve fibres in colocalization enter the spleen in its hilum in the vicinity of splenic artery branches and are gradually distributed in periarterial topography in the white pulp. Only NADPH-d positive nerve cells were seen around the splenic vessels. In the red pulp and splenic capsule, only ACHE-positive nerve fibres were present.