A histochemical study on the innervation of the cerebral blood vessels in bats

The adrenergic and cholinergic nerves innervating the cerebral blood vessels of four species of Japanese chiropterids (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Murina leucogaster, Vespertilio superans and Miniopterus schreibersi) have been investigated using specific histochemical techniques. In all these species of bats arteries of the internal carotid system are poorly developed, whereas those of the vertebro-basilar system are well developed. The adrenergic and cholinergic nerves innervating these cerebral arteries, however, all originate from the stem nerve bundles entering the cranial cavity along the internal carotid artery. Both nerve plexuses are among the densest of any vertebrate species so far investigated. Adrenergic nerve plexuses are usually composed of complicated meshworks of fine fibres, while cholinergic ones are composed of rather longitudinally arranging meshworks of both thick and thin fibres, exhibiting a very high acetylcholinesterase activity. Small parenchymal arteries and arterioles are also dually innervated by adrenergic and cholinergic nerve fibres of peripheral origin. Intracerebral capillaries, on the other hand, are in several places directly connected with both adrenergic and cholinergic fibres of parenchymal origin. Capillaries in the cerebral and cerebellar cortices, diencephalon and cochlear nucleus in v. superans exhibit a heavy non-nervous acetylcholinesterase activity in their walls, but in R. ferrumequinum and M. schreibersi, the response is weak or negative, except for that in the cochlear nucleus.