Enteric neuron density correlates with clinical features of severe gut dysmotility.

This study was designed to identify an objective morphometric method for paraffin-embedded tissue samples to assess the myenteric inter-ganglionic distance, i.e. the micrometer between two adjacent clusters of myenteric neurons immunoreactive for neuron specific enolase, as well as the number of myenteric and submucosal neuronal cell bodies / ganglion in jejunal specimens of patients with severe GI dysmotility. Jejunal full-thickness biopsies were collected from 32 patients (22 females; 16-77 years) with well-characterized severe dysmotility and 8 controls (4 females; 47-73 years). A symptom questionnaire was filled prior to surgery. Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis coupled with Dunn's post-test and non-parametric linear regression tests were used for analyzing morphometric data and clinical correlations, respectively. Compared to controls, patients with severe dysmotility exhibited a significant increase in myenteric inter-ganglionic distance (P=0.0005) along with a decrease in the number of myenteric (P<0.00001) and submucosal (P<0.0004) neurons. A 50% reduction in the number of submucosal and myenteric neurons correlated with an increased inter-ganglionic distance and severity of dysmotility. Our study proposes a relatively simple tool that can be applied for quantitative evaluation of paraffin sections from patients with severe dysmotility. The finding of an increased inter-ganglionic distance may aid diagnosis and limit the direct quantitative analysis of neuron...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol Source Type: research