Somatostatin-like immunoreactive primary sensory neurons supplying the porcine adrenal glands in physiological conditions and after adrenalectomy

Retrograde neuronal tracing, using fast blue, in combination with a single-labelling immunofluorescence technique, was applied to determine whether somatostatin (SOM) participates in sensory innervating of the porcine adrenal glands in physiological conditions and after adrenalectomy. In control animals, SOM-like immunoreactive neurons comprised 7.0 ± 0.7% of adrenal gland-projecting cells in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) at neuromeres Th6-7 and 6.5 ± 1.2% at neuromeres Th 12-14. After adrenalectomy the percentage of SOM-positive DRG cells considerably increased and attained the level of 44.7 ± 2.5% at neuromeres Th6-7 and 36.6 ± 1.7% at neuromeres Th12-14. The obtained results demonstrate that SOM is not only a neuromediator within sensory neurones supplying the porcine adrenal glands, but also suggest the role of this substance during repairing processes within the nervous system after adrenalectomy.