IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL-STUDY OF PYLORIC ENDOCRINE-CELLS OF THE EUROPEAN MOLE

The distribution and the morphology of some endocrine cells (gastrin, somatostatin and 5-HT immunoreactive) in the pyloric region were studied in the Talpa europaea, an insectivorus representing one of the most primitive living Eutherian. The immunohistochemical studies enabled us to identify and calculate the percentage of each cell type: - the most numerous endocrine cells were gastrin immunoreactive; - fairly numerous appeared somatostatin immunopositive; - less numerous were 5-HT immunoreactive cells. While the ultrastructural observations let us describe four endocrine cell types: G cells producing gastrin, D cells containing somatostatin, EC cells of the gastric type producing 5-HT and D1 cells whose content is still unknown.