Evidence for and significance of the projection of VIP neurons from the myenteric plexus to the taenia coli in the guinea pig

Abstract

Immunohistochemical studies of the distribution of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide were made in the cecum from normal guinea pigs and from guinea pigs after lesions of the cecal wall had been made. These experiments were designed to determine the origin of the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide axons which supply the taenia of the cecum in order to ascertain whether the projections of the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide neurons were consistent with VIP being contained in enteric inhibitory neurons. Vasoactive intestinal peptide was found in nerve cell bodies of both the myenteric and submucous plexuses. After severing connections between the taenia and the myenteric plexus the vasoactive ..