Overall distribution of substance P nerves in the rat cornea and their three-dimensional profiles

The overall distribution of substance P-like immunoreactive (SPI) fibers, examined by using whole-mounts of the rat cornea, was investigated by means of indirect immunofluorescence. SPI fibers entered the cornea from two levels; one from the middle layer of the sclera and the other from the episclera. From the sclera, a thick SPI fiber trunk, extending to the central part, subdivided into smaller SPI fiber bundles and approached the epithelium. The SPI fiber bundles from the episclera were smaller than those from the sclera. However, both fiber bundles formed a dense fiber network in the uppermost part of the stroma. This fiber plexus dissociated into SPI fibers extending to the superficial part of the epithelium where they formed an abundant arborization of fine SPI fibers. The results suggest that these fibers originate from SPI neurons in the trigeminal ganglion.