Age-Related Changes in Sympathetic Innervation of the Stomach in Rats

Sympathetic innervation of the stomach is carried out by the prevertebral ganglia of the solar plexus. The localization and neurochemical composition of neurons innervating the stomach in the postnatal ontogenesis of rats have been studied by the method of retrograde axon transport of Fast Blue. In all animals, the celiac ganglia had more labeled neurons than the superior mesenteric ganglion. The number of labeled neurons increased in the first ten days of life and then did not change until senescence. All labeled neurons innervating the stomach contain tyrosine hydroxylase, the catecholamine synthesis enzyme. The proportion of labeled neuropeptide Y-immunopositive neurons did not change during ontogeny; the percentage of labeled calbindin-immunoreactive neurons decreased in the first month of life.