Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to detect existence of Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) in the celiac-superior mesenteric ganglia (CSMG) of goats, and determine the possible influence of GnRH on CSMG. Five CSMG were taken from mature female and male goats， respectively. The distribution characteristics of GnRHR were observed after immunohistochemical SP staining. Image-Pro Plus 6.0 (IPP 6.0) was used as the method of semi-quantitative image analysis to evaluate expression difference of GnRHR between neurons and non-neuron cells. The results showed that strong GnRHR immunoreactivity (GnRHR-ir) products mainly distributed on the membrane and whole cytoplasm of neurons and weak GnRHR-ir products on non-neuron cells. Expression difference of GnRHR between these two sorts of cells was highly significant (P<0.01). The wide distribution of GnRHR in CSMG suggests that GnRH can exert potential effects on CSMG and neurons are the major targets, which implies GnRH may regulate the functional activities of the gastrointestinal system by sympathetic nerve from celiac superior mesenteric ganglion.