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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy of Calcium Dynamics in Acute Mouse Pancreatic Tissue Slices
Published on: April 13, 2021
Catecholamines and 5-hydroxytryptamine in tissues of the rabbit exocrine pancreas
Eunyoung Yi1, Tina G Smith, Rodney C Baker
1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216-4505, USA.
Objectives:
Norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), epinephrine (Epi), and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) all modulate pancreatic exocrine secretion, yet their concentrations in specific tissues of the exocrine pancreas are unknown.
Methods:
Concentrations of catecholamines and 5-HT in rabbit pancreatic ganglia, acini, ducts and ampullae, and arteries and veins were measured using HPLC.
Results:
Concentrations of NE in ganglia from the head/neck region were significantly higher than those from the body (1620 +/- 220 vs. 778 +/- 179 pmol/mg protein). Acini contained little NE, DA, or 5-HT (9 +/- 2, 0.9 +/- 0.2, 13 +/- 5 pmol/mg protein). Ducts and ampullae contained NE (314 +/- 74 and 156 +/- 24 pmol/mg protein), DA (43 +/- 14 and 13 +/- 4 pmol/mg protein), Epi (63 +/- 29 and 39 +/- 6 pmol/mg protein), and 5-HT (696 +/- 151 and 3563 +/- 288 pmol/mg protein). Arteries and veins contained the highest concentrations of NE (1962 +/- 463 and 736 +/- 80 pmol/mg protein, respectively).
Conclusions:
Pancreatic ganglia and blood vessels, rather than acini, are the main sites of noradrenergic sympathetic innervation of the rabbit exocrine pancreas. These nerves preferentially target ganglionic transmission in the head/neck versus the body. Serotonergic nerves provide little or no innervation of rabbit pancreatic ganglia or acini.
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