Immunohistochemical Localization on 5-HT Cells in the Digestive Tract of Calotes versicolor

The presence investigation and morphology observation of 5-HT endocrine cells in the digestive tract of Calotes versicolor were done with the anti-5-HT serum by the method of the ABC immunohistochemical technique.The results indicate that 5-HT cells distribute throughout the digestive tract,and the density curve of 5-HT cells appears "M".The distributive density of 5-HT cells is the maximum in jejunum,the second in stomach and the minimum in esophagus.The shapes of 5-HT endocrine cells are diverse,such as round,ellipse,shuttle,tapering and so on.The cells are mainly round and ellipse in the stomach,pyloric part of stomach and rectum,while the cells are mainly tapering in the small intestine and the tapering cells always have one long processus extending to either the gut lumen or lamina propria.The 5-HT cells are found between gastrointestinal epithelial cells,at the basal region of epithelial cells,between glandular epithelial cells and in the lamina propria.The majority of 5-HT endocrine cells perform endocrine function and the minority has exocrine function.It indicated that the distribution of 5-HT cells may be related to the feeding habit of Calotes versicolor by analysing and contrasting.