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Immunohistochemical demonstration of GABAB receptors in the rat gastrointestinal tract

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Abstract

Immunohistochemical localization of GABAB-receptors was demonstrated in the rat gastrointestinal tract using a monoclonal antibody (GB-1) raised against the purified GABAB-receptor. Immunoreactive staining for GABAB-receptors was found in some populations of endocrine, muscular and neuronal components in the stomach and gut wall. Positive mucosal epithelial, probably endocrine, cells were distributed throughout the stomach and intestine. Double immunostaining indicated that such positive cells for GABAB-receptors often co-possessed serotonin in the small intestine but not in the gastric body. In the muscular layer of the digestive canal, positive staining was seen as dotty granules punctuated on the surface of muscle fibers. In the enteric nervous system, positive neuronal somata were found in both submucosal and myenteric ganglia throught the entire canal extending from the stomach to the rectum. This is the first report to visualize the cellular localization of GABAB-receptors in the gastrointestinal system of the rat, and should provide a fundamental basis for future studies on gastrointestinal functions regulated by GABAB-receptors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular Neurobiology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta, 520-21, Otsu, Shiga, Japan

    Kyoji Nakajima, Ikuo Tooyama & Hiroshi Kimura

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    Kinya Kuriyama

Authors
  1. Kyoji Nakajima
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  2. Ikuo Tooyama
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  3. Kinya Kuriyama
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  4. Hiroshi Kimura
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Kimura.

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Special issue dedicated to Dr. Kinya Kuriyama.

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Nakajima, K., Tooyama, I., Kuriyama, K. et al. Immunohistochemical demonstration of GABAB receptors in the rat gastrointestinal tract. Neurochem Res 21, 211–215 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02529137

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