Occurrence of a dense plexus of sensory nerve fibers immunoreactive to calcitonin-gene-related peptide in the cauda epididymidis of rats.

Abstract

The occurrence, distribution and ontogeny of nerves displaying calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP)-like immunoreactivity were studied in the male reproductive tract of rats. A marked regional difference in number of CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers was observed in the epididymis. The immunoreactive nerve fibers were particularly numerous in the cauda epididymidis, where the nerves were found in the capsular and interstitial connective tissue and further in the smooth muscle layer and the subepithelial connective tissue surrounding the duct. In the remaining portions of the reproductive tract proximal and distal to the epididymis, CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers were scarcely found in the connective tissues surrounding the duct, although a small number of the CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers was constantly found adjacent to small blood vessels throughout the male reproductive tract. CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers in the epididymis were first detected at embryonic day 18 when thin bundles or single fibers were evenly distributed in the interstitial connective tissue of the entire epididymal duct. A marked regional difference in number of CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers seen in the adult epididymis was established by postnatal day 14. In the epididymis of young rats treated neonatally with capsaicin, CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers were almost completely absent. This finding together with the distribution pattern of CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers different from that of the autonomic nerves so far reported strongly suggests that the immunoreactive nerves were sensory in nature.