Sympathetic Innervation of the Juxtaglomerular Cells of the Kidney

Abstract

Combination of a histochemical fluorescence method for biogenic monoamines and staining of juxtaglomerular cell granules demonstrated sympathetic nerve terminals in the rat kidney in the walls of the parts of the juxtaglomerular arterioles that contain granulated cells. This forms a morphological basis for a direct influence of sympathetic nervous activity on the liberation of renin. The juxtaglomerular granules were nonfluorescent, an indication that, in the rat, the granulated juxtaglomerular cells are not equivalent to mast cells.