Coexistence of acetylcholine and calcitonin gene-related peptide in the vestibular efferent neurons in the rat.

An immunocytochemical study combined with the retrograde tracer technique was performed in the rat to assess the vestibular efferent system. All 3 neuron groups which give rise to axons terminating on the vestibular end-organs were cholinergic, i.e., a group dorsolateral to the genu of the facial nerve (DL), a group dorsomedial to this genu (M), and scattered cells in the parvocellular reticular nucleus (PCRt). In addition, we further demonstrated that about 55% of the cholinergic cells in DL had calcitonin gene-related peptide.