Innervation of the cultured fetal rat pancreas.

The fetal rat pancreas, explanted at 18 days of gestation and cultured up to ten days, contains numerous acetylcholinesterase-positive neurons. These nerves usually appear in small ganglia although single nerve cells are encountered. The axons of these intrapancreatic nerves appear to terminate only in the islet tissue and not on any exocrine components of the explant. It is concluded that the fetal rat pancreas contains an islet-specific group of cholinergic neurons.