Carotid body and glomus cells distributed in the wall of the common carotid artery in the bird

Abstract

In the bird the carotid body is located between the distal (nodose) ganglion of the vagus nerve and the recurrent laryngeal nerve at the beginning of the common carotid artery, that is, the organ is located at the cervicothoracic border. The chicken carotid body receives numerous branches from the vagus and the recurrent laryngeal nerves. In addition, dense networks of the peptidergic nerve fibers immunoreactive for substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), galanin, and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are distributed in and around the carotid body parenchyma. The substance P- and CGRP-immunoreactive fibers are derived from both the superior and inferior ganglia of the vagus nerve. The VIP-, galanin-, and NPY-immunoreactive fibers originate from the 14th cervical ganglion of the sympathetic trunk. The endocrine organs including the thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, carotid body, and ultimobranchial gland are situated as a continuous series along the common carotid artery. The organs are supplied with arteries arising as one trunk from the common carotid artery. Glomus cells are widely distributed not only in the carotid body but also in the wall of the common carotid artery and around the common trunk and its branches. The glomus cells of the chicken carotid body exhibit intense immunoreactivity for serotonin, tyrosine hydroxylase, and chromogranin A. The cells located in the wall of the common carotid artery further express NPY mRNA and peptide. In the chickens exposed to isocapnic hypoxia for 35 days, 3-4-fold increase of the carotid body volume is induced and the carotid body glomus cells show enhanced synthetic and secretory activities. On the other hand, the cells in the wall of the common carotid artery display little changes after the long-term hypoxia, having different functions from the carotid body. The carotid body rudiment is formed in the lateral wall of the third branchial artery. The neural cells immunoreactive for TuJ1, PGP 9.5, and HNK-1, which are continuous with the inferior vagal (nodose) ganglion, first surround and then invade both the carotid body rudiment and the other portions of the third branchial artery, becoming glomus cells.

Mechanisms of Low-Glucose Sensitivity in Carotid Body Glomus Cells

“…Cells were quenched with staining medium (L15 medium containing 1 mg/ml BSA [Sigma A-3912], 10 mmol/l HEPES at pH 7.4, and 1% penicillin/streptomycin [BioWhittaker]). After centrifugation, the cells were resuspended in staining medium, filtered through a nylon screen (45 m; Sefar America) and stained with antibody against HNK-1 (CD57 membrane glycoprotein; BD Pharmingen), a marker that identifies tyrosine hydroxylase-positive glomus cells (26). The analysis and sorting of HNK-1 ϩ cells was performed by a MoFlo cytometer (DAKO Cytomation).…”

Evidence for a carotid body homolog in the lizardTupinambis merianae

“…The physical association of chemoreceptive cells in the carotid artery of the tegu, however, differed from the general pattern seen in most other terrestrial taxa. The carotid chemoreceptors of amphibians and mammals are concentrated into highly vascularized structures (the carotid labyrinth and carotid body, respectively) (Gonzalez et al, 1994;Kameda, 2002;Kusakabe, 2002). In contrast, the chemoreceptive site in the tegu is best described as a modified artery with a lattice-like structure composed of cords of tissue crisscrossing the vessel lumen, within which the putative chemoreceptor cells are diffusely distributed.…”

“…For this study, we tested for cell markers of acetylcholine (ACh) and serotonin (5-HT) based upon their prevalence in the carotid chemoreceptor cells of other taxa. Catecholamine-and serotonincontaining cells are present in the chemoreceptive regions of fish, amphibians, birds and mammals (Banister et al, 1967;Kameda, 2002;Burleson et al, 2006;Prabhakar, 2006;Jonz and Nurse, 2012) whereas ACh is found in some fish and all mammals (Burleson and Milsom, 1995;Nurse, 2005). Although ACh is not found in the carotid chemoreceptors of all taxa, cholinergic putative chemoreceptor cells were recently found in chelonians (Reyes et al, 2015), leading us to include it in our study.…”

“…In mammals, the glomus cells, or chromaffin cells, converge into a collective mass called the carotid body (Gonzalez et al, 1994;Peers and Kemp, 2001). Homologs to the mammalian carotid body have been found in amphibians (Neil et al, 1950;Van Vliet and West, 1992;Kusakabe, 2002;Jonz and Nurse, 2012) and birds (Abdel-Magied and King, 1978;Kameda, 2002) but a homolog has not yet been identified in reptiles.…”

Localization of the ultimobranchial gland, thyroid gland and parathyroid gland in long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

“…There are previous studies on the morphologic structure and the topographic anatomy of the carotid body, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland and ultimobranchial gland of various avian species (4,9,13,16,17). The purpose of this study is to identify the localization of the thyroid gland, parathyroid gland and ultimobranchial gland spesific to reptile and avian species and in long-legged buzzards and to contribute to the anatomy literature.…”