Innervation of the Periarteriolar Lymphatic Sheath of the Spleen

During the course of a neurohistochemical and two independent electron microscopic studies of the mouse spleen, unmyelinated adrenergic nerves containing numerous dense core and lucent vesicles and devoid of neurolemma were observed adjacent to reticular cells and lymphocytes in the white pulp. Some of these nerves formed an intimate relationship with these cells. Since adrenergic substances have been reported to modulate the cell cycle of lymphocytes in vitro, these findings are suggestive of a neural influence on the cell cycle of lymphocytes in vivo.