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Efferent neurotransmitters in the human cochlea and vestibule

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 127; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00016480600652123

1651-2251

Anneliese Schrott‐Fischer, Keren Kammen‐Jolly, Arne W. Scholtz, Helge Rask‐Andersen, Rudolf Glueckert, Michel Eybalin,

Neuroscience of respiration and sleep

Current neurotransmission models based on animal studies on the mammalian inner ear not always reflect the situation in human. Rodents and primates show significant differences in characteristics of efferent innervation as well as the distribution of neuroactive substances.Immunohistochemistry demonstrates the mammalian efferent system as neurochemically complex and diverse: several neuroactive substances may co-exist within the same efferent terminal. Using light and electron microscopic immunohistochemistry, this study presents a comparative overview of the distribution patterns of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the acetylcholine synthesizing enzyme, GABA, CGRP, and enkephalins within the peripheral nerve fiber systems of the human inner ear.Human temporal bones were obtained post mortem and prepared according to a pre-embedding immunohistochemical technique to detect immunoreactivities to ChAT, GABA, CGRP, leu- and met-enkephalins at the electron microscopic level.Immunoreactivities of all the antigens were present within both the lateral and medial efferent systems of the cochlea, whereas only ChAT, GABA, and CGRP were detected in efferent pathways of the vestibular end organs.