VACUOLATED NERVE CELLS IN UTERINE CERVICAL GANGLION OF RAT CONTRIBUTION CONCERNING PERIPHERAL NEUROSECRETION

The vacuolated nerve cells of the uterine cervical ganglion of pregnant and nonpregnant rats were investigated by light and electron microscopy. 1. Apart from their vacuoles, the vacuolated nerve cells differ from most of the other (non-vacuolated) nerve cells by the uniform distribution of the Golgi apparatus throughout the entire cytoplasm and by the peripheral location of the nucleus. 2. The vacuoles are completely surrounded by the cytoplasm of the nerve cell, i.e. they always occupy an intracellular position. Occasionally cilia project into the vacuoles. 3. Inside the vacuoles various numbers of inclusion bodies can be found. A graded series is observed, ranging from vacuoles containing very few inclusion bodies to vacuoles completely filled with them. 4. The following types of inclusion bodies are discharged into the interior of the vacuole: a) lamellar inclusion bodies which are produced by the limiting membrane of the vacuole b) non-lamellar inclusion bodies, which originate from spongy areas of the membrane or which are tied off from microvilli protruding into the vacuole. 5. The vacuoles in the cells of the uterine cervical ganglion cannot be interpreted as a symptom of degeneration. It is, however, not yet possible to settle with certainty the question whether they are an equivalent of a neurosecretory activity. © 1968 Springer-Verlag.