Histochemical light microscopic study of catecholamine containing paraganglia in the human pelvis

Histological and histochemical techniques have been employed to determine the structure and autonomic innervation of paraganglia located in the human pelvis. In foetal and early postnatal tissues, paraganglia formed rounded cellular masses which were frequently in company with the autonomic nerves and ganglia of the urinary bladder and other pelvic viscera. The constituent cells contained only small amounts of cholinesterase and were unrelated to enzyme positive autonomic nerves; acetylcholinesterase containing nerves were occasionally observed in the capsule and the fibrous septa of the pelvic paraganglia. In early postnatal specimens, pelvic paraganglia frequently contained single or multiple "pacinian-like" corpuscles, each possessing a central region which was rich in both acetyl and pseudocholinesterase. These structures were rarely observed within autonomic ganglia and were absent 4 1/2 years post partum. By means of a histochemical technique, pelvic paraganglia were found to contain catecholamine which was attributed to the presence of relatively large quantities of noradrenaline. These observations have been discussed with particular reference to the results of other studies on the autonomic innervation of paraganglia.