Age-related changes in the sympathetic innervation of the pancreas

Using immunohistochemical methods, the morphological features of the sympathetic nerve structures in the pancreas of newborn, pubescent, and aging rats have been studied. The neural composition of intramural ganglia has been described. The intramural ganglia were shown to include chromaffin cells. In many ganglia of the pancreas, two types of pericellular nerve apparatuses have been detected simultaneously: tyrosine hydroxylase-containing catecholaminergic synaptic terminals and PGP 9.5-immunopositive cholinergic synapses. It was established that the density of catecholaminergic structures in the pancreas of rats decreases with age.