Observation of Pig Chromaffin Cells in Primary Culture

Abstract

Adrenal chromaffin cells play an important role in animal physiology as a part of the sympathetic nervous system. They also have clinical applications in pain therapy, chronic fatigue, and hypertension. Due to their crucial function, chromaffin cells from several different kinds of animals have been used in research. Interestingly, not many people employ pig chromaffin cell for experiments even though pigs show many similarities to human in many physiological aspects. The goal of this study is to observe pig chromaffin cells in primary culture. We developed a primary culture of pig chromaffin cells by isolating cells from the adrenal gland of a pig. Chromaffin cells were identified by neutral red staining. We then observed the morphology, cell size, and cell density at different time points. We found that pig chromaffin cells could be isolated in primary culture, were viable and have a rounded morphology. In culture their size is approximately 15 mm in diameter. This procedure isolated chromaffin cells that could survive for up to 3 days, in sufficient numbers to be useful as an experimental model.