B. Guha et al., AN IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF PHENYLETHANOLAMINE-N-METHYLTRANSFERASE(PNMT) IN THE ADRENAL-MEDULLA OF 4 BIRDS, National Academy Science Letters, 15(10), 1992, pp. 333-335
Our study indicates that in pigeon, crow, owl and wood-pecker the PNMT
reaction of the adrenal medulla is more or less uniform. In sharp con
trast to what is known in mammals where distinct PNMT positive indicat
ing epinephrine(E) and negative indicating norepinephrine (NE) cells h
ave been identified, such cytoenzymologic classification could not be
obtained in the above four species of birds. Hence it may be conjectur
ed that at least in these birds, PNMT does not act as a marker enzyme
in differentiating the E and NE cells.