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. 1975;157(2):255-72.
doi: 10.1007/BF00222070.

Nerve endings in rat carotid body

M Morgan, R J Pack, A Howe

Nerve endings in rat carotid body

M Morgan et al. Cell Tissue Res. 1975.

Abstract

The carotid body of the rat consists of "glomera" interspersed by blood vessels and nerve bundles. Each "glomus" consists of 2-12 Type I cells, incompletely invested by 1-3 Type II cells. Type I cells are characterised by the presence of numerous dense cored vesicles in their cytoplasm and may exhibit "synaptic" -like contacts with each other. Small efferent nerve endings make synaptic contact with one or more Type I cells. Large cup-shaped afferent nerve endings make multiple synaptic contacts of two kinds with one or more Type I cells. A second kind of efferent nerve ending is occasionally seen in synaptic contact with one of these afferent nerve endings. A model for the mode of operation of the glomus as a chemoreceptor is proposed.

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