Perinatal development of quinacrine-positive neurons in the rabbit gastrointestinal tract.

Nerve showing positive reaction to quinacrine are described in rabbit ileum and stomach during perinatal development and compared to the distribution of nerves revealed by catecholamine fluorescence and by staining for acetylcholinesterase Acetylcholinesterase- and quinacrine-positive neurons were observed on the twenty-third day of gestation in both the ileum and stomach, but catecholamine fluorescence was not detected in nerves until the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth days of gestation in the stomach and ileum respectively. The possibility that quinacrine is binding to high accumulations of ATP is discussed.