Fluorescence Histochemical Demonstration of Adrenergic Terminations in the Human Choroid

Abstract

With the existing literature on the aspects of anatomic and physiological ocular choroid membrane variables in mind, the authors verify the possibility of applying the methods of Axelsson et al and of Lindvall and Bjorklund, as simplified by Furness and Costa for fluorescent microscopy, to the study of human choroid nerve topographic distribution. The material for the study was obtained from three human eyeballs, two enucleated because of malignant melanoma of the choroid and one because of neoplasia of the ciliary body. A binocular dissecting microscope was used. A fluorescent microscope was used to observe the histological specimens and photographs were taken.

The following results are presented and discussed: 1) the fluorescent paravascular nervous fibres and periarterial nervous plexuses divided into preterminal and terminal fibres; 2) in the suprachoroidal layer, there were small groups of polygonal nervous branches with or without this connection; 3) the most intervasal plexus development was in the posterior part of the vascular layer with preterminal and terminal fibres, 4) in the intervascular space, melanocytes and free adrenergic nervous terminations were observed; 5) adrenergic fibres were not observed in the choriocapillaris of the choroid membrane; 6) there were adrenergic neurons in the vascular layer.