Fine structure of vesiculated nerve profiles in the human lumbar facet joint

Abstract

The ultrastructural features of vesiculated nerve profiles were examined within a perivascular plexus of unmyelinated nerve fibres around small arteries and arterioles in the posterior facet joint capsule. Such profiles were exclusively observed in the dense fibrous layer and the adjacent part of the subintimal layer. The ligamentum flavum lacked any type of innervation. The vesiculated nerve profiles were tentatively classified on the basis of the fine structural appearances of their vesicular content. Two major types of nerve profiles could readily be distinguished in the capsular tissue. Both displayed a variable number of mitochondria, neurotubules and neurofilaments. The first type, containing predominantly small vesicles with an electron-dense granule or core, was frequently encountered and considered to be adrenergic in function. Profiles similar in morphology were also observed in the synovial plical tissue. A second type of profile, found in the joint capsule, contained varying proportions of small agranular (clear) vesicles and mitochondria. Some of these profiles exhibited an accumulation of mitochondria and were considered to be sensory in function. Nerve profiles filled with predominantly small flattened vesicles were occasionally encountered.