The ovarian and uterine ligaments: a light- and electron-microscopic study in the rat and guinea pig

Musgrove, C.; Gosling, J.A.; Dixon, J.S.

Acta Anatomica 100(4): 419-427

1978


ISSN/ISBN: 0001-5180
PMID: 636817
Document Number: 127707
Histological and histochemical light-microscopy techniques, supplemented by EM were used to study the structure and autonomic innervation of the uterine and ovarian ligaments in the adult rat and guinea pig. In both species, the smooth muscle of the uterine ligament was continuous with that of the myometrium at the tubo-uterine junction and with the smooth muscle of the ovarian ligament. The musculature of the latter also extended into the mesosalpinx and the ovarian bursa, capsule and hilus. Using EM, smooth muscle cells of both ligaments were usually separated from their neighbors by small amounts of connective tissue, although regions of close approach between adjacent cells were frequently observed. In these areas, the plasma membranes of apposing smooth muscle cells were separated by 10-15 nm and were devoid of an intervening basal lamina. Concerning the arrangement of autonomic nerves, the smooth muscle of the uterine and ovarian ligaments in both species was not supplied by acetylcholinesterase-containing nerves. In the guinea pig, however, numerous noradrenergic nerves were observed among the smooth muscle cells of the uterine and ovarian ligaments, the mesosalpinx and the ovarian capsule and bursa. These findings were confirmed using EM, in which nerve terminal regions containing characteristic small, dense-cord vesicles were encountered lying 50-100 nm from adjacent muscle cells. The smooth muscle cells of the rat uterine and ovarian ligaments were devoid of a noradrenergic nerve supply. The significance of the findings, particularly in relation to the functional activity of the adult uterine and ovarian ligaments, was discussed.

Document emailed within 1 workday
Secure & encrypted payments