Abstract
In piscivorous bats, Noctilio leporinus, the distribution and relative frequency of gastrointestinal endocrine cells immunoreactive for either serotonin, somatostatin, gastrin, motilin, secretin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide(GIP), neurotensin, enteroglucagon, bovine pancreatic polypeptide(BPP), avian pancreatic polypeptide(APP), polypeptide tyrosine tyrosine(PYY) or cholecystokinin(CCK) were examined. Four types of endocrine cells immunoreactive for serotonin, somatostatin, gastrin and enteroglucagon were found in the stomach. Moderate numbers of serotonin-immunoreative(IR) cells were found in the whole gastric mucosa, while numerous gastrin-IR cells and a few enteroglucagon-IR cells were restricted within the pyloric glands and the fundic glands, respectively. Somatostatin-IR cells were rare in the fundic glands and moderate numbers in the pyloric glands. In addition to these 4 types of endocrine cells, another 4 types of endocrine cells immunoreactive for motilin, secretin, GIP and neurotensin were also detected in the intestine. In the Brunner's glands, somatostatin- and gastrin-IR cells were found rarely, being not detected in every animal. No BPP-, APP-, PYY- and CCK-IR cells were detected.
