Preliminary comparative immunocytochemical study of respiratory tract endocrine cells in certain rodents

Studies were performed on 3 species belonging to two families: Microtidae (7 common voles and 7 pine voles), and Muridae - 10 Wistar rats. In rodents the airways endocrine cells (ECs) are localised in the epithelium lining the larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and lung. CGRP-, synaptophysin (SY)-, calcitonin (CT)-, neuron-specific enolase (NSE)- and chromogranin A (CA)- immunoreactivity were nearly totally co-localised in ECs. In the region of the tracheo-larynx junction, CGRP- and NSE-positive cells were observed in the epithelium of the glands. It is surmised that some of the CGRP-positive ECs do not generate CT and CA, for the most part in ECs. In Microtidae ECs were more abundant than in the rat and were found even in the epithelium lining of the inside larynx in the transition region before the trachea.