GABA immunoreactivity of calyceal nerve endings in the vestibular system of the guinea pig.

Neurotransmitters involved in the vestibular system are largely uncharacterized. On the basis of results of earlier electrophysiological and immunohistochemical experiments, glutamate and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) have been proposed in both mammalian and non-mammalian species as afferent transmitters between the sensory cell and the afferent dendrite. GABA is also suspected to act as an efferent neurotransmitter in the cochlea. We describe in this study the immunocytochemical localization of GABA within the vestibular end organs in the guinea pig. GABA immunoreactivity was found in the calyceal nerve endings surrounding type I hair cells of the vestibular epithelia. The most significant labelings were obtained in the crista ampullaris. Labeling was more difficult to observe in the utricular and saccular macula. These results contribute to the recent proposal that the calyx has a secretory function, and suggest that GABA may have a modulatory influence upon the type I hair cells.