Aminergic and cholinergic systems in the dorsolateral pontine tegmentum

Topographic relationship between cholinergic and aminergic neuronal somata has been studied in the dorsolateral pontine tegmentum by using three histochemical techniques, acetylcholinesterase (AchE) histochemistry in rats having received systemic injection of diisopropylfluorophosphate, choline acetyltransferase (CAT) immunohistochemistry and catecholamine fluorescence histochemistry. Based on comparing the data obtained from these different techniques, it seems evident that all noradrenergic neurons contain AchE. The remaining population of AchE-containing somata appears to correspond with CAT-containing, therefore, cholinergic neuronal cell bodies. No AchE-positive perikarya were detected in neuronal structures other than cholinergic and aminergic neurons. In addition, coexistence of noradrenaline and acetylcholine in a single cell seems improbable, at least, in the dorsolateral pontine tegmentum.