Neuropeptide Y and somatostatin immunoreactive perikarya in preaortic ganglia projecting to the rat ovary.

Postganglionic perikarya in preaortic ganglia projecting to the ovary of the rat were identified utilizing the retrograde fluorescent tracer, true blue. Ovarian perikarya were subsequently examined for neuropeptide Y and somatostatin immunoreactivity. True blue-labelled ovarian postganglionic perikarya were distributed in the coeliac ganglion and in smaller ganglia located at the origins of the renal and ovarian arteries. In the coeliac ganglia, 74.4 +/- 18.8% of true blue-labelled ovarian perikarya were immunoreactive to neuropeptide Y while 37.4 +/- 9.6% were immunoreactive to somatostatin. In the inferior smaller ganglia, 72.2 +/- 18.7% and 2.2 +/- 2.2% of the true blue-labelled ovarian perikarya were immunoreactive to neuropeptide Y and somatostatin respectively. It is suggested that neuropeptide Y and somatostatin participate in the modulation of ovarian function.