Distribution of serotonin-like immunoreactive nerves in major cerebral arteries of rabbit: an immunohistochemical study.

We studied the distribution pattern of serotonin-like immunoreactive nerve fibers in the major cerebral vessels of rabbit by an indirect immunofluorescence technique using whole-mount stretch preparations. The density of serotonin-like immunoreactive nerve fibers was greater in vessels of the posterior part of the circle of Willis compared with that in the anterior part. This is in contrast to most of the observations reported previously regarding adrenergic, cholinergic, and peptidergic innervation of the circle of Willis.