Ldk. Buttery et al., EARLY ABUNDANCE OF NERVES CONTAINING NO SYNTHASE IN THE AIRWAYS OF NEWBORN PIGS AND SUBSEQUENT DECREASE WITH AGE, Neuroscience letters, 201(3), 1995, pp. 219-222
We have localized by immunocytochemistry, and quantified by intercept
counting, NO-synthase-containing nerves in newborn pig intrapulmonary
airways and maturational changes in their density in juvenile and adul
t lung. NO-synthase-containing nerves supplying airway smooth muscle a
nd epithelium were evident at all ages (<2 h, 1-2 days, 3-5 days, 6-10
days, 10 and 16 weeks). They were most abundant in neonates, and thei
r density decreased with age (intercepts/mm(2) +/- SEM: newborn, 94 +/
- 3.3; 16 weeks, 7 +/- 0.3; P < 0.001), as did their percentage of the
total nerves defined by the general neuronal marker PGP 9.5 (newborn,
38 +/- 2.7%; 16 weeks, 18 +/- 2.3%; P < 0.01). Neural-derived NO may
be important in pulmonary adaptation to extra-uterine life.