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Mesenteric neurons in the adult rat are responsive to ileal treatment with benzalkonium chloride
Author(s) -
Cracco C.,
Filogamo G.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(93)90034-b
Subject(s) - enteric nervous system , myenteric plexus , anatomy , denervation , reinnervation , acetylcholinesterase , nervous system , chemistry , benzalkonium chloride , biology , peripheral nervous system , axon , central nervous system , immunohistochemistry , biochemistry , pathology , endocrinology , medicine , neuroscience , enzyme , immunology
The application of a 2 mM solution of the cationic surfactant benzalkonium chloride (BAC) to an ileal segment produced a selective and extensive myenteric denervation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether such a selective unbalance of the enteric nervous system in the adult rat elicited any plastic response within the mesenteric nervous structures contacting it. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining, β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotidephosphate (NADPH) diaphorase histochemistry and glyoxilic acid‐induced fluorescence were performed on whole‐mount preparations of myenteric plexus and mesenteric nerves. In both control and BAC‐treated animals nervous elements were detected along the mesenteric nerves. Although rather similar in position, shape and size, these neurons displayed striking differences with regard to their arrangement and density per nerve. In the controls, few small aggregates of neurons could be detected; more commonly, isolated nerve cell bodies were scattered along the nerve trunks. In the BAC‐treated animals, numerous spherical or spindle‐shaped clusters of neurons were located along the nerves; the mean neuronal density per nerve displayed a two‐five‐fold increase over the control values. The observed changes within the mesenteric nerves might be involved in an attempt at reinnervation of the BAC‐treated intestinal segments from extraenteric sources.