CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The present study describes, for the first time in an anuran amphibian, the nerve stimulation effects on thesecretory and motor activity of the oviduct of adult females. The results reveal that in Rhinella arenarum oviducts,the epithelial and glandular secretory cells of the mucosa of the pars convoluta respond to nerve stimulationsecreting the products synthetized and stored in their cytoplasm. The ultrastructural analysis showed that thecell content released is made up of granular, fibrillar and floccular material, exocytosis being the main secretorymechanism found in epithelial secretory cells, although apocrine and holocrine processes could also be observed.In contrast, in glandular cells only exocytosis processes were found. With respect to the participation of thenervous system in the motility of the duct, observations under our experimental conditions indicated that oviductalnerve stimulation promotes motor activity as manifested by a succession of coordinated contractions andrelaxations that generate movements similar to peristaltic waves. These results were observed in oviducts fromanimals captured during the reproductive and post reproductive periods. However, it is important to note thatboth the secretory response and duct motility are markedly decreased during the post reproductive period of thespecies