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PubMed2004

Age-related changes in the morphology of the myenteric plexus of the human colon.

Aging is believed to affect the structure and function of the enteric nervous system, but little specific information on this topic is available, particularly in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age on the structure of myenteric ganglia in the human colon. We examined myenteric ganglia in colonic specimens obtained from 168 patients aged 10 days to 91 years. Nerves were stained in whole mount preparations using the vital fluorescent dye 4-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-methylpyridinium iodide (4-Di-2-ASP) and other staining methods. Human myenteric ganglia were classified into three types: normal, those containing empty spaces ('cavities') and those containing large nerve fiber bundles. We found a statistically significant increase with age in the proportion of ganglia with cavities. Conversely, there was a decrease with age in the proportion of normal ganglia. The proportion of fiber-containing ganglia did not change with age. These findings indicate that there is an increase with age in the number of abnormally appearing myenteric ganglia in the human colon, which may contribute to the disturbed colonic motility in the aging population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Presence of putative neurotransmitters in the myenteric plexus of the gastrointestinal tract and in the musculature of the urinary bladder of the ferret.

The innervation of the musculature in the ferret stomach, ileum, colon and urinary bladder was investigated using immunohistochemistry in noncolchicin-treated tissues. In the gastrointestinal tract two main subpopulations of myenteric neurones were found: cholinergic neurones expressing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), which made up 68, 67 and 67% of the neurones in the stomach, ileum and colon, respectively, and nitrergic neurones containing nitric oxide synthase and NADPH-diaphorase (stomach: 23%, ileum: 21%, colon: 26%). In the stomach, cholinergic neurones expressed substance P (SP, 2% of all neurones), dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH, 19%) but not tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), while nitrergic neurones contained VIP and neuropeptide Y (NPY). TH- but not DBH-immunoreactivity was observed in 4% of gastric neurones. Intense immunoreactivity in the musculature suggests that part of ChAT/SP- and NOS/NPY/VIP-positive neurones function as motorneurones. In the ileum, a high number (32%) of DBH-positive neurones was demonstrated. About half of the SP-positive neurones in the ileum also contained calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). In the urinary bladder, only few intramural ganglia were observed. The smooth muscle was densely innervated by ChAT, NPY and DBH immunoreactive fibres. The data showed that the innervation of the ferret viscera exhibited similarities but also differences as compared with other mammalian species. Some of the chemical coding of myenteric neurones is remarkably similar to that observed in other mammals.

Animals↗