Distribution of serotonin-immunoreactive paraneurons in the lower urinary tract of dogs

Morphological and quantitative studies were made on serotonin-containing paraneurons throughout the lower urinary tract in male and female dogs. Using an anti-serotonin antiserum, the cells were consistently demonstrated to be dispersed in the epithelium from the vesico-urethral junction to the external urethral ostium. They occurred most frequently in the urethra proximal to the urogenital diaphragm in both sexes. The total number of the serotonin-immunoreactive cells in the urethra was estimated to be 36.2 X 10(4) (SD 9.9 X 10(4] in the male (n = 3) and 15.6 X 10(4) (SD 2.1 X 10(4] in the female (n = 3). Besides the urethra, the prostate and vaginal vestibule contained several serotonin-immunoreactive cells. The urethral serotonin cells were basically bipolar basal-granulated cells that extended the basal cytoplasm to the basement membrane and reached the lumen with an apical process. Modified cell shapes were, however, also frequent, and included bifurcated apical and/or basal processes or a laterally directed basal process. Occasional serotonin cells possessed a threadlike basal process with varicosities and a terminal bouton, reminiscent of a neuronal process. Immunoreactivity for chromogranin A, a carrier protein common to endocrine paraneurons, was demonstrated in all of the urethral serotonin cells. The chromogranin A-immunoreactive granules accumulated more densely in the basal and perinuclear regions of the cell. It is hypothesized that the serotonin-immunopositive paraneurons may receive chemical and/or physical information from urine and, in response to it, secrete serotonin which presumably causes the contraction of the musculature of the urethra.