Distribution of nitric oxide synthase in the esophagus of the cat and monkey.

The distribution of nitrergic neurons and processes in the esophagus of the cat and monkey was studied by light microscopic immunocytochemistry using a specific antibody against purified rat brain nitric oxide synthase and immunoperoxidase procedures. Immunoreactive nerve fibers were found pervading the myenteric plexus, submucous plexus and plexus of the muscularis mucosae, and particularly in the lower esophagus a few immunoreactive fibers entered the epithelium as free nerve endings, some of which derived from perivascular fibers. In the upper esophagus immunoreactive motor end-plates were found in the striated muscle. Thirty-forty-five percent of neuronal cell bodies found in the intramural ganglia and along the course of nerve fiber bundles were immunoreactive and were of the three morphological types earlier described. In the intramural ganglia immunoreactive nerve fibers formed a plexus in which varicose nerve terminals were in close relation to immunoreactive and non-immunoreactive neurons. The intramural blood vessels that crossed the different layers of the esophageal wall were surrounded by paravascular and perivascular plexuses containing immunoreactive nerve fibers. The anatomical findings suggest that nitric oxide is involved in neural communication and in the control of peristalsis and vascular tone in the esophagus. In the lower esophagus a few nitrergic nerve fibers are anatomically disposed to subserve a sensory-motor function.