Gonda_1995_J.Smooth.Muscle.Res_31_153

Three-dimensional structures of the nerves of the guinea-pig gallbladder, after histochemical demonstration of the acetylcholinesterase activity and HCl hydrolysis-collagenase digestion, were examined by scanning electron microscope. HCl-collagenase digestion facilitated easy identification of silver- and gold-intensified acetylcholinesterase-positive nerve fibers at a high accelerating voltage (25 kV), due to their strong reflection image. Ganglia were either triangular or ovoidal in shape. Dense para- and peri-vascular nerve fibers occurred around the cystic artery. There were a few intramuscular nerve fibers with varicosity-like structures among smooth muscle bundles. Dense branched and tapering nerve fibers with varicosities in the lamina propria mucosae were closely attached to epithelial cells. The acetylcholinesterase-positive fibers in the lamina propria and peri- and para-vascular nerves, and fewer positive fibers in the smooth muscle layer probably represent cholinergic nerves involved in the concentration of biliary compounds and lesser in the motor function of the smooth muscle.