Sympathetic nerve development in the brown adipose tissue of the rat

With the Falck fluorescent histochemical method for catecholamines, the development of sympathetic nerve fibers in the brown fat of the rat was studied. At birth a low level of catecholamine fluorescence was found in preterminal axon bundles, which have been called here sheathed axons. The fluorescence in these bundles reached a maximum at about 5 days of age. Parenchymal nerve catecholamine fluorescence was discernible at 2 to 3 days of age. These nerves progressively got brighter until adult levels had been reached at about 10–15 days. The sympathetic nerve fiber network seen on arterial blood vessels in the adult was not seen in the young rat until 8–10 days of age. These blood vessel nerves reached maturity at about 15–21 days. The parenchymal nerve innervation was shown to originate in the sympathetic chain. The sympathetic chain gave off sheathed axon bundles which reach the parenchyma by passing along septa or beside blood vessels.