In combination with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and immunohistochemistry for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were carried out on the intraepithelial nerve fibers of the guinea-pig nasal gland.
AChE-positive nerve profiles and VIP-immunoreactive nerve profiles were detected in abundance within the epithelium of the glandular acini and within the epithelium of intralobular excretory ducts including the intercalated and striated ducts. Intraepithelial NPY-immunoreactive nerve profiles were also considerably large in number in the nasal gland, but less frequent than the other two types of nerve profiles; furthermore, the NPY-immunoreactive nerve profiles appeared absent within the epithelium of the striated duct.
All the intraepithelial nerve varicosities were in close spatial contact with the epithelial cells of the acinus and the duct and also with the myoepithelial cells, which were commonly seen in the acinus and the intercalated duct. Throughout the present study, however, no membranous specializations could be found between the nerve varicosities and the epithelial cells or the myoepithelial cells.
The present results suggest an intense and delicate regulation through the collaboration among ACh, VIP and NPY of the secretory activity of the guinea-pig nasal gland, including the emission of acinar secretions into the duct through contraction of the myoepithelium and modification of the secretion contents by the duct epithelium.