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TRH-like immunoreactivity in endocrine cells and neurons in the gastro-intestinal tract of the rat and guinea pig

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Summary

By use of the indirect immunofluorescence technique, the cellular localization of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) was studied in the gastrointestinal tract of rats and guinea pigs of different ages. TRH-like immunoreactivity (LI) was observed in many pancreatic islet cells of young rats and guinea pigs but only in single cells of 6-month-old rats. In aged guinea pigs, a reduction in the number of TRH-positive cells was evident; however, numerous strongly fluorescent cells were still present. In the guinea pig, TRH-LI was in addition observed in gastrin cells in the stomach. TRH-positive nerve fibers occurred in the myenteric plexus of the oesophagus, stomach and intestine of the rat, and in the muscle layers of the guinea pig. These results suggest a functional role of TRH both as hormone and neuroactive compound in various portions and sites of the gastro-intestinal tract of the rat and guinea pig

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Yoshihiro Tsuruo &  Tomas Hökfelt

  2. Department of Medicine, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Theo J. Visser

  3. Department of Biochemistry, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Joe R. Kimmel

  4. Medical Research Council of Canada Regulatory Peptide Group, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    John C. Brown

  5. Department of Pathology, Catholic University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    A. Verhofstadt

  6. Center for Ulcer Research and Education, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    J. Walsh

Authors
  1. Yoshihiro Tsuruo
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  2. Tomas Hökfelt
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  3. Theo J. Visser
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  4. Joe R. Kimmel
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  5. John C. Brown
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  6. A. Verhofstadt
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  7. J. Walsh
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Tsuruo, Y., Hökfelt, T., Visser, T.J. et al. TRH-like immunoreactivity in endocrine cells and neurons in the gastro-intestinal tract of the rat and guinea pig. Cell Tissue Res. 253, 347–356 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222291

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222291

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