Effect of capsaicin on the intraperitoneal axons of the rat trachea.

In vitro exposure of specimens of rat trachea to capsaicin at a concentration of 2 x 10(-4) g/ml was followed by a significant increase in the diameter and major changes in the vesicle content of intraepithelial axons with terminals containing a high proportion of large dense-cored vesicles and only scattered small vesicles, but had no effect on axons with terminals containing large numbers of closely-packed small vesicles. Twenty-four hours after in vivo treatment of rats with capsaicin at dose levels of 50 mg/kg, there was a highly significant reduction in the number of axons/unit length in the tracheal epithelium. This was attributed to similar patterns of degeneration of axons with terminals containing a high proportion of large dense-cored vesicles to those seen in the ureter and to the early elimination of the degenerating axons by phagocytosis by the epithelial cells.