Characterization of neuromuscular transmission and projections of muscle motor neurons in the rat stomach.

The stomach is the primary reservoir of the gastrointestinal tract, where ingested content is broken down into small particles. Coordinated relaxation and contraction is essential for rhythmic motility and digestion, but how the muscle motor innervation is organized to provide appropriate graded regional control is not established. In this study, we recorded neuromuscular transmission to the circular muscle using intracellular microelectrodes to investigate the spread of the influence of intrinsic motor neurons. In addition, microanatomical investigations of neuronal projections and pharmacological analysis were conducted to investigate neuromuscular relationships. We found that inhibitory neurotransmission to the circular muscle is graded with stimulus strength and circumferential distance from the stimulation site. The influence of inhibitory neurons declined between 1 and 11 mm from the stimulation site. In the antrum, corpus, and fundus, the declines at 11 mm were about 20%, 30%, and 50%, respectively. Stimulation of inhibitory neurons elicited biphasic hyperpolarizing potentials often followed by prolonged depolarizing events in the distal stomach, but only hyperpolarizing events in the proximal stomach. Excitatory neurotransmission influence varied greatly between proximal stomach, where depolarizing events occurred, and distal stomach, where no direct electrical effects in the muscle were observed. Structural studies using microlesion surgeries confirmed a dominant circumferential projection. We conclude that motor neuron influences extend around the gastric circumference, that the effectiveness can be graded by the recruitment of different numbers of motor neuron nerve terminals to finely control gastric motility, and that the ways in which the neurons influence the muscle differ between anatomical regions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study provides a detailed mapping of nerve transmission to the circular muscle of the different anatomical regions of rat stomach. It shows that excitatory and inhibitory influences extend around the gastric circumference and that there is a summation of neural influence that allows for finely graded control of muscle tension and length. Nerve-mediated electrical events are qualitatively and quantitatively different between regions, for example, excitatory neurons have direct effects on fundus but not antral muscle.

Morphologies, dimensions and targets of gastric nitric oxide synthase neurons.

We investigated the distributions and targets of nitrergic neurons in the rat stomach, using neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunohistochemistry and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) diaphorase histochemistry. Nitrergic neurons comprised similar proportions of myenteric neurons, about 30%, in all gastric regions. Small numbers of nitrergic neurons occurred in submucosal ganglia. In total, there were ~ 125,000 neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) neurons in the stomach. The myenteric cell bodies had single axons, type I morphology and a wide range of sizes. Five targets were identified, the longitudinal, circular and oblique layers of the external muscle, the muscularis mucosae and arteries within the gastric wall. The circular and oblique muscle layers had nitrergic fibres throughout their thickness, while the longitudinal muscle was innervated at its inner surface by fibres of the tertiary plexus, a component of the myenteric plexus. There was a very dense innervation of the pyloric sphincter, adjacent to the duodenum. The muscle strands that run between mucosal glands rarely had closely associated nNOS nerve fibres. Both nNOS immunohistochemistry and NADPH histochemistry showed that nitrergic terminals did not provide baskets of terminals around myenteric neurons. Thus, the nitrergic neuron populations in the stomach supply the muscle layers and intramural arteries, but, unlike in the intestine, gastric interneurons do not express nNOS. The large numbers of nNOS neurons and the density of innervation of the circular muscle and pyloric sphincter suggest that there is a finely graded control of motor function in the stomach by the recruitment of different numbers of inhibitory motor neurons.

Organisation of the musculature of the rat stomach.

The strengths, directions and coupling of the movements of the stomach depend on the organisation of its musculature. Although the rat has been used as a model species to study gastric function, there is no detailed, quantitative study of the arrangement of the gastric muscles in rat. Here we provide a descriptive and quantitative account, and compare it with human gastric anatomy. The rat stomach has three components of the muscularis externa, a longitudinal coat, a circular coat and an internal oblique (sling) muscle in the region of the gastro-oesophageal junction. These layers are similar to human. Unlike human, the rat stomach is also equipped with paired muscular oesophago-pyloric ligaments that lie external to the longitudinal muscle. There is a prominent muscularis mucosae throughout the stomach and strands of smooth muscle occur in the mucosa, between the glands of the corpus and antrum. The striated muscle of the oesophageal wall reaches to the stomach, unlike the human, in which the wall of the distal oesophagus is smooth muscle. Thus, the continuity of gastric and oesophageal smooth muscle bundles, that occurs in human, does not occur in rat. Circular muscle bundles extend around the circumference of the stomach, in the fundus forming a cap of parallel muscle bundles. This arrangement favours co-ordinated circumferential contractions. Small bands of muscle make connections between the circular muscle bundles. This is consistent with a slower conduction of excitation orthogonal to the circular muscle bundles, across the corpus towards the distal antrum. The oblique muscle merged and became continuous with the circular muscle close to the gastro-oesophageal junction at the base of the fundus, and in the corpus, lateral to the lesser curvature. Quantitation of muscle thickness revealed gradients of thickness of both the longitudinal and circular muscle. This anatomical study provides essential data for interpreting gastric movements.

Morphologies and distributions of 5-HT containing enteroendocrine cells in the mouse large intestine.

Serotonin (5-HT)-containing gastrointestinal endocrine cells contribute to regulation of numerous bodily functions, but whether these functions are related to differences in cell shape is not known. The current study identified morphologies and localization of subtypes of 5-HT-containing enteroendocrine cells in the mouse large intestine. 5-HT cells were most frequent in the proximal colon compared with cecum and distal colon. The large intestine harbored both open (O) cells, with apical processes that reached the lumen, and closed (C) cells, not contacting the lumen, classified into O1, O2, and O3 and C1, C2, and C3 cells, by the lengths of their basal processes. O1 and C1 cells, with basal processes sometimes longer that 100 µm, were most common in the distal colon. Their long basal processes ran against the inner surfaces of the mucosal epithelial cells and were strongly immunoreactive for 5-HT; these processes are ideally placed to communicate with the epithelium and to react to mechanical forces. O2 and C2 cells that had similar but shorter basal processes were also most common in the distal colon. O3 and C3 cells had no or very short basal processes. The O3 open type 5-HT cells were abundant in the proximal colon, particularly at the luminal surface, where they could release 5-HT into the lumen to act on luminal 5-HT receptors. Numerous O3 type 5-HT cells occurred in the lower (submucosal) region of the crypts in all segments and might release 5-HT to influence cell renewal in the crypt proliferative zones.

Quantitation and chemical coding of enteroendocrine cell populations in the human jejunum.

Recent studies reveal substantial species and regional differences in enteroendocrine cell (EEC) populations, including differences in patterns of hormone coexpression, which limit extrapolation between animal models and human. In this study, jejunal samples, with no histologically identifiable pathology, from patients undergoing Whipple's procedure were investigated for the presence of gastrointestinal hormones using double- and triple-labelling immunohistochemistry and high-resolution confocal microscopy. Ten hormones (5-HT, CCK, secretin, proglucagon-derived peptides, PYY, GIP, somatostatin, neurotensin, ghrelin and motilin) were localised in EEC of the human jejunum. If only single staining is considered, the most numerous EEC were those containing 5-HT, CCK, ghrelin, GIP, motilin, secretin and proglucagon-derived peptides. All hormones had some degree of colocalisation with other hormones. This included a population of EEC in which GIP, CCK and proglucagon-derived peptides are costored, and four 5-HT cell populations, 5-HT/GIP, 5-HT/ghrelin, 5-HT/PYY, and 5-HT/secretin cell groups, and a high degree of overlap between motilin and ghrelin. The presence of 5-HT in many secretin cells is consistent across species, whereas lack of 5-HT and CCK colocalisation distinguishes human from mouse. It seems likely that the different subclasses of 5-HT cells subserve different roles. At a subcellular level, we examined the vesicular localisation of secretin and 5-HT, and found these to be separately stored. We conclude that hormone-containing cells in the human jejunum do not comply with a one-cell, one-hormone classification and that colocalisations of hormones are likely to define subtypes of EEC that have different roles.

The identification of neuronal control pathways supplying effector tissues in the stomach.

The stomach acts as a buffer between the ingestion of food and its processing in the small intestine. It signals to the brain to modulate food intake and it in turn regulates the passage of a nutrient-rich fluid, containing partly digested food, into the duodenum. These processes need to be finely controlled, for example to restrict reflux into the esophagus and to transfer digesta to the duodenum at an appropriate rate. Thus, the efferent pathways that control gastric volume, gastric peristalsis and digestive juice production are critically important. We review these pathways with an emphasis on the identities of the final motor neurons and comparisons between species. The major types of motor neurons arising from gastric enteric ganglia are as follows: immunohistochemically distinguishable excitatory and inhibitory muscle motor neurons; four neuron types innervating mucosal effectors (parietal cells, chief cells, gastrin cells and somatostatin cells); and vasodilator neurons. Sympathetic efferent neurons innervate intramural arteries, myenteric ganglia and gastric muscle. Vagal efferent neurons with cell bodies in the brain stem do not directly innervate gastric effector tissues; they are pre-enteric neurons that innervate each type of gastric enteric motor neuron. The principal transmitters and co-transmitters of gastric motor neurons, as well as key immunohistochemical markers, are the same in rat, pig, human and other species.

Distributions and relationships of chemically defined enteroendocrine cells in the rat gastric mucosa.

This paper provides quantitative data on the distributions of enteroendocrine cells (EEC), defined by the hormones they contain, patterns of colocalisation between hormones and EEC relations to nerve fibres in the rat gastric mucosa. The rat stomach has three mucosal types: non-glandular stratified squamous epithelium of the fundus and esophageal groove, a region of oxyntic glands in the corpus, and pyloric glands of the antrum and pylorus. Ghrelin and histamine were both contained in closed cells, not contacting the lumen, and were most numerous in the corpus. Gastrin cells were confined to the antrum, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and somatostatin cells were more frequent in the antrum than the corpus. Most somatostatin cells had basal processes that in the antrum commonly contacted gastrin cells. Peptide YY (PYY) cells were rare and mainly in the antrum. The only numerous colocalisations were 5-HT and histamine, PYY and gastrin and gastrin and histamine in the antrum, but each of these populations was small. Peptide-containing nerve fibres were found in the mucosa. One of the most common types was vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) fibres. High-resolution analysis showed that ghrelin cells were closely and selectively approached by VIP fibres. In contrast, gastrin cells were not selectively innervated by VIP or CGRP fibres. The study indicates that there are distinct populations of gastric EEC and selective innervation of ghrelin cells. It also shows that, in contrast to EEC of the small intestine, the majority of EEC within the stomach contained only a single hormone.

Cellular and sub-cellular localisation of oxyntomodulin-like immunoreactivity in enteroendocrine cells of human, mouse, pig and rat.

We use a monoclonal antibody against the C-terminal of oxyntomodulin (OXM) to investigate enteroendocrine cells (EEC) in mouse, rat, human and pig. This antibody has cross-reactivity with the OXM precursor, glicentin (Gli) but does not recognise glucagon. The antibody stained EEC in the jejunum and colon of each species. We compared OXM/Gli immunoreactivity with that revealed by antibodies against structurally related peptides, GLP-1 and glucagon and against GIP and PYY that are predicted to be in some EEC that express OXM/Gli. We used super-resolution to locate immunoreactive vesicles. In the pancreas, OXM/Gli was in glucagon cells but was located in separate storage vesicles to glucagon. In jejunal EEC, OXM/Gli and GIP were in many of the same cells but often in separate vesicles, whereas PYY and OXM/Gli were commonly colocalised in the same storage vesicles of colonic EEC. When binding of anti-GLP-1 to the structurally related GIP was removed by absorption with GIP peptide, GLP-1 and OXM/Gli immunoreactivities were contained in the same population of EEC in the intestine. We conclude that anti-OXM/Gli is a more reliable marker than anti-GLP-1 for EEC expressing preproglucagon products. Storage vesicles that were immunoreactive for OXM/Gli were almost always immunoreactive for GLP-1. OXM concentrations, measured by ELISA, were highest in the distal ileum and colon. Lesser concentrations were found in more proximal parts of small intestine and pancreas. Very little was in the stomach. In EEC containing GIP and OXM/Gli, these hormones are packaged in different secretory vesicles. Separate packaging also occurred for OXM and glucagon, whereas OXM/Gli and PYY and OXM/Gli and GLP-1 were commonly contained together in secretory vesicles.

Distribution and co-expression patterns of specific cell markers of enteroendocrine cells in pig gastric epithelium.

Although the pig is an accepted model species for human digestive physiology, no previous study of the pig gastric mucosa and gastric enteroendocrine cells has investigated the parallels between pig and human. In this study, we have investigated markers for each of the classes of gastric endocrine cells, gastrin, ghrelin, somatostatin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, histidine decarboxylase, and PYY cells in pig stomach. The lining of the proximal stomach consisted of a collar of stratified squamous epithelium surrounded by gastric cardiac glands in the fundus. This differs considerably from human that has only a narrow band of cardiac glands at its entrance, surrounded by a fundic mucosa consisting of oxyntic glands. However, the linings of the corpus and antrum are similar in pig and human. Likewise, the endocrine cell types are similar and similarly distributed in the two species. As in human, gastrin cells were almost exclusively in the antrum, ghrelin cells were most abundant in the oxyntic mucosa and PYY cells were rare. In the pig, 70% of enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells in the antrum and 95% in the fundus contained 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), higher proportions than in human. Unlike the enteroendocrine of the small intestine, most gastric enteroendocrine cells (EEC) did not contain colocalised hormones. This is similar to human and other species. We conclude that the pig stomach has substantial similarity to human, except that the pig has a protective lining at its entrance that may reflect the difference between a pig diet with hard abrasive components and the soft foods consumed by humans.

Relationships of endocrine cells to each other and to other cell types in the human gastric fundus and corpus.

Gastric endocrine cell hormones contribute to the control of the stomach and to signalling to the brain. In other gut regions, enteroendocrine cells (EECs) exhibit extensive patterns of colocalisation of hormones. In the current study, we characterise EECs in the human gastric fundus and corpus. We utilise immunohistochemistry to investigate EECs with antibodies to ghrelin, serotonin (5-HT), somatostatin, peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide 1, calbindin, gastrin and pancreastatin, the latter as a marker of enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells. EECs were mainly located in regions of the gastric glands populated by parietal cells. Gastrin cells were absent and PYY cells were very rare. Except for about 25% of 5-HT cells being a subpopulation of ECL cells marked by pancreastatin, colocalisation of hormones in gastric EECs was infrequent. Ghrelin cells were distributed throughout the fundus and corpus; most were basally located in the glands, often very close to parietal cells and were closed cells i.e., not in contact with the lumen. A small proportion had long processes located close to the base of the mucosal epithelium. The 5-HT cells were of at least three types: small, round, closed cells; cells with multiple, often very long, processes; and a subgroup of ECL cells. Processes were in contact with their surrounding cells, including parietal cells. Mast cells had very weak or no 5-HT immunoreactivity. Somatostatin cells were a closed type with long processes. In conclusion, four major chemically defined EEC types occurred in the human oxyntic mucosa. Within each group were cells with distinct morphologies and relationships to other mucosal cells.

Analysis of enteroendocrine cell populations in the human colon.

Recent studies have shown that patterns of colocalisation of hormones in enteroendocrine cells are more complex than previously appreciated and that the patterns differ substantially between species. In this study, the human sigmoid colon is investigated by immunohistochemistry for the presence of gastrointestinal hormones and their colocalisation. The segments of colon were distant from the pathology that led to colectomy and appeared structurally normal. Only four hormones, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY) and somatostatin, were common in enteroendocrine cells of the human colon. Cholecystokinin, present in the colon of some species, was absent, as were glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, ghrelin and motilin. Neurotensin cells were extremely rare. The most numerous cells were 5-HT cells, some of which also contained PYY or somatostatin and very rarely GLP-1. Almost all GLP-1 cells contained PYY. It is concluded that enteroendocrine cells of the human colon, like those of other regions and species, exhibit overlapping patterns of hormone colocalisation and that the hormones and their patterns of expression differ between human and other species.

Distribution and characterisation of CCK containing enteroendocrine cells of the mouse small and large intestine.

There is general consensus that enteroendocrine cells, EEC, containing the enteric hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) are confined to the small intestine and predominate in the duodenum and jejunum. Contrary to this, EEC that express the gene for CCK have been isolated from the large intestine of the mouse and there is evidence for EEC that contain CCK-like immunoreactivity in the mouse colon. However, the human and rat colons do not contain CCK cells. In the current study, we use immunohistochemistry to investigate CCK peptide presence in endocrine cells, PCR to identify cck transcripts and chromatography to identify CCK peptide forms in the mouse small and large intestine. The colocalisation of CCK and 5-HT, hormones that have been hypothesised to derive from cells of different lineages, was also investigated. CCK immunoreactivity was found in EEC throughout the mouse small and large intestine but positive cells were rare in the rectum. Immunoreactive EEC were as common in the caecum and proximal colon as they were in the duodenum and jejunum. CCK gene transcripts were found in the mucosa throughout the intestine but mRNA for gastrin, a hormone that can bind some anti-CCK antibodies, was only found in the stomach and duodenum. Characterisation of CCK peptides of the colon by extraction, chromatographic separation and radioimmunoassay revealed bioactive amidated and sulphated forms, including CCK-8 and CCK-33. Moreover, CCK-containing EEC in the large intestine bound antibodies that target the biologically active sulfated form. Colocalisation of CCK and 5-HT occurred in a proportion of EEC throughout the small intestine and in the caecum but these hormones were not colocalised in the colon, where there was CCK and PYY colocalisation. It is concluded that authentic, biologically active, CCK occurs in EEC of the mouse large intestine.

The chemical coding of 5-hydroxytryptamine containing enteroendocrine cells in the mouse gastrointestinal tract.

The majority of 5-HT (serotonin) in the body is contained in enteroendocrine cells of the gastrointestinal mucosa. From the time of their discovery over 80 years ago, the 5-HT-containing cells have been regarded as a class of cell that is distinct from enteroendocrine cells that contain peptide hormones. However, recent studies have cast doubt on the concept of there being distinct classes of enteroendocrine cells, each containing a single hormone or occasionally more than one hormone. Instead, data are rapidly accumulating that there are complex patterns of colocalisation of hormones that identify multiple subclasses of enteroendocrine cells. In the present work, multiple labelling immunohistochemistry is used to investigate patterns of colocalisation of 5-HT with enteric peptide hormones. Over 95 % of 5-HT cells in the duodenum also contained cholecystokinin and about 40 % of them also contained secretin. In the jejunum, about 75 % of 5-HT cells contained cholecystokinin but not secretin and 25 % contained 5-HT plus both cholecystokinin and secretin. Small proportions of 5-HT cells contained gastrin or somatostatin in the stomach, PYY or GLP-1 in the small intestine and GLP-1 or somatostatin in the large intestine. Rare or very rare 5-HT cells contained ghrelin (stomach), neurotensin (small and large intestines), somatostatin (small intestine) and PYY (in the large intestine). It is concluded that 5-HT-containing enteroendocrine cells are heterogeneous in their chemical coding and by implication in their functions.

Differences in hormone localisation patterns of K and L type enteroendocrine cells in the mouse and pig small intestine and colon.

This study has investigated the patterns of colocalisation of the conventional K cell marker, glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide (GIP), and the L cell markers, glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY), in enteroendocrine cells (EEC) of the small intestine and colon of mouse and pig. All combinations of the hormones, 3 in a cell, 2 in a cell and 1 at a time, were encountered. In both species, the three most common EEC types contained (1) both GLP-1 and PYY but not GIP, (2) GLP-1 alone or (3) GIP plus GLP-1 without PYY. Few GIP plus PYY cells and rare cells containing all 3 hormones were encountered. Gradients of cell types occurred along the intestine. For example, in mouse, there were no PYY cells in the duodenum and few in the jejunum, but >50% of labelled EEC in the distal ileum and colon were PYY immunoreactive. By contrast, over 40% of EEC in the pig duodenum contained PYY, and most also contained either GLP-1 or GIP. The gradient in pig was less pronounced. It is concluded that the traditional classification of K and L cells requires revision, and that there are major inter-species differences in the patterns of colocalisation of hormones that have been used to characterise K and L cells.

Development of the aganglionic colon following surgical rescue in a cell therapy model of Hirschsprung disease in rat.

Patients with Hirschsprung disease lack enteric ganglia in the distal colon and propulsion of colorectal content is substantially impaired. Proposed stem cell therapies to replace neurons require surgical bypass of the aganglionic bowel during re-colonization, but there is inadequate knowledge of the consequences of bypass. We performed bypass surgery in Ednrb-/- Hirschsprung rat pups. Surgically rescued rats failed to thrive, an outcome reversed by supplying electrolyte- and glucose-enriched drinking water. Histologically, the bypassed colon had normal structure, but grew substantially less in diameter than the functional region proximal to the bypass. Extrinsic sympathetic and spinal afferent neurons projected to their normal targets, including arteries and the circular muscle, in aganglionic regions. However, although axons of intrinsic excitatory and inhibitory neurons grew into the aganglionic region, their normally dense innervation of circular muscle was not restored. Large nerve trunks that contained tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP, encoded by Calca or Calcb)-, neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS or NOS1)-, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)- and tachykinin (encoded by Tac1)-immunoreactive axons occurred in the distal aganglionic region. We conclude that the rescued Ednrb-/- rat provides a good model for the development of cell therapies for the treatment of Hirschsprung disease.

Sites of action of ghrelin receptor ligands in cardiovascular control.

Circulating ghrelin reduces blood pressure, but the mechanism for this action is unknown. This study investigated whether ghrelin has direct vasodilator effects mediated through the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHSR1a) and whether ghrelin reduces sympathetic nerve activity. Mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein under control of the promoter for growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) and RT-PCR were used to locate sites of receptor expression. Effects of ghrelin and the nonpeptide GHSR1a agonist capromorelin on rat arteries and on transmission in sympathetic ganglia were measured in vitro. In addition, rat blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity responses to ghrelin were determined in vivo. In reporter mice, expression of GHSR was revealed at sites where it has been previously demonstrated (hypothalamic neurons, renal tubules, sympathetic preganglionic neurons) but not in any artery studied, including mesenteric, cerebral, and coronary arteries. In rat, RT-PCR detected GHSR1a mRNA expression in spinal cord and kidney but not in the aorta or in mesenteric arteries. Moreover, the aorta and mesenteric arteries from rats were not dilated by ghrelin or capromorelin at concentrations >100 times their EC(50) determined in cells transfected with human or rat GHSR1a. These agonists did not affect transmission from preganglionic sympathetic neurons that express GHSR1a. Intravenous application of ghrelin lowered blood pressure and decreased splanchnic nerve activity. It is concluded that the blood pressure reduction to ghrelin occurs concomitantly with a decrease in sympathetic nerve activity and is not caused by direct actions on blood vessels or by inhibition of transmission in sympathetic ganglia.

Identification of neurons that express ghrelin receptors in autonomic pathways originating from the spinal cord.

Functional studies have shown that subsets of autonomic preganglionic neurons respond to ghrelin and ghrelin mimetics and in situ hybridisation has revealed receptor gene expression in the cell bodies of some preganglionic neurons. Our present goal has been to determine which preganglionic neurons express ghrelin receptors by using mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the promoter for the ghrelin receptor (also called growth hormone secretagogue receptor). The retrograde tracer Fast Blue was injected into target organs of reporter mice under anaesthesia to identify specific functional subsets of postganglionic sympathetic neurons. Cryo-sections were immunohistochemically stained by using anti-EGFP and antibodies to neuronal markers. EGFP was detected in nerve terminal varicosities in all sympathetic chain, prevertebral and pelvic ganglia and in the adrenal medulla. Non-varicose fibres associated with the ganglia were also immunoreactive. No postganglionic cell bodies contained EGFP. In sympathetic chain ganglia, most neurons were surrounded by EGFP-positive terminals. In the stellate ganglion, neurons with choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity, some being sudomotor neurons, lacked surrounding ghrelin-receptor-expressing terminals, although these terminals were found around other neurons. In the superior cervical ganglion, the ghrelin receptor terminals innervated subgroups of neurons including neuropeptide Y (NPY)-immunoreactive neurons that projected to the anterior chamber of the eye. However, large NPY-negative neurons projecting to the acini of the submaxillary gland were not innervated by EGFP-positive varicosities. In the celiaco-superior mesenteric ganglion, almost all neurons were surrounded by positive terminals but the VIP-immunoreactive terminals of intestinofugal neurons were EGFP-negative. The pelvic ganglia contained groups of neurons without ghrelin receptor terminal innervation and other groups with positive terminals around them. Ghrelin receptors are therefore expressed by subgroups of preganglionic neurons, including those of vasoconstrictor pathways and of pathways controlling gut function, but are absent from some other neurons, including those innervating sweat glands and the secretomotor neurons that supply the submaxillary salivary glands.

Morphological and functional changes in guinea-pig neurons projecting to the ileal mucosa at early stages after inflammatory damage.

In the present study the relationship between tissue damage and changed electro-physiological properties of Dogiel type II myenteric neurons within the first 24 hours after induction of inflammation with trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS) in the guinea-pig ileum was investigated. Treatment with TNBS causes damage to the mucosa, inflammatory responses in the mucosa and enteric ganglia and changes in myenteric neuron properties. Thus we hypothesise that the physiological changes in the myenteric neurons could be due to damage to their mucosal processes or inflammation in the vicinity of cell bodies or the processes. We found an association between hyperexcitability of myenteric Dogiel type II neurons and damage to the mucosa and its innervation at 3 and 24 h, times when there was also an inflammatory reaction. The lack of hyperexcitability in neurons from control tissues in which axons projecting to the mucosa were severed suggests that inflammation may be an important contributing factor to the neuronal hyperexcitability at the acute stage of inflammation. Despite mucosal repair and re-innervation of the mucosa before 7 days after induction of inflammation, neuronal hyperexcitability persists. Although the mechanisms underlying neuronal hyperexcitability at the acute stage of inflammation might be different from those underlying long-term changes in the absence of active inflammation in the ganglia, the persistent changes in neuronal excitability may contribute to post-inflammatory gut dysfunctions.

Ghrelin receptors are expressed by distal tubules of the mouse kidney.

Ghrelin, a peptide hormone from the stomach, has been recently discovered to reduce sodium excretion from the kidney. Although the effects on the kidney suggest actions in the distal nephron, the sites of expression of ghrelin receptors have not been localised. In the present work we have used a mouse that expresses green fluorescent protein under the control of the ghrelin receptor promoter to locate sites of receptor expression in the kidney. Receptor expression was confined to the straight parts of the distal tubules and the thin limbs of the loops of Henle. No expression was detected in other structures, including the glomeruli, proximal tubules and collecting ducts. Ghrelin receptors were not found in extra-renal or intra-renal arteries, despite observations that ghrelin is a vasodilator. The distribution revealed by in situ hybridisation histochemistry was the same as that revealed by the reporter. In conclusion, ghrelin receptors have a restricted distribution in the kidney. The location in the straight parts of the distal tubules accords with observations that ghrelin promotes sodium retention.

Analysis of Bioavailability and Induction of Glutathione Peroxidase by Dietary Nanoelemental, Organic and Inorganic Selenium.

Dietary organic selenium (Se) is commonly utilized to increase formation of selenoproteins, including the major antioxidant protein, glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Inorganic Se salts, such as sodium selenite, are also incorporated into selenoproteins, and there is evidence that nanoelemental Se added to the diet may also be effective. We conducted two trials, the first investigated inorganic Se (selenite), organic Se (L-selenomethionine) and nanoelemental Se, in conventional mice. Their bioavailability and effectiveness to increase GPx activity were examined. The second trial focused on determining the mechanism by which dietary Se is incorporated into tissue, utilising both conventional and germ-free (GF) mice. Mice were fed a diet with minimal Se, 0.018 parts per million (ppm), and diets with Se supplementation, to achieve 0.07, 0.15, 0.3 and 1.7 ppm Se, for 5 weeks (first trial). Mass spectrometry, Western blotting and enzymatic assays were used to investigate bioavailability, protein levels and GPx activity in fresh frozen tissue (liver, ileum, plasma, muscle and feces) from the Se fed animals. Inorganic, organic and nanoelemental Se were all effectively incorporated into tissues. The high Se diet (1.7 ppm) resulted in the highest Se levels in all tissues and plasma, independent of the Se source. Interestingly, despite being ~11 to ~25 times less concentrated than the high Se, the lower Se diets (0.07; 0.15) resulted in comparably high Se levels in liver, ileum and plasma for all Se sources. GPx protein levels and enzyme activity were significantly increased by each diet, relative to control. We hypothesised that bacteria may be a vector for the conversion of nanoelemental Se, perhaps in exchange for S in sulphate metabolising bacteria. We therefore investigated Se incorporation from low sulphate diets and in GF mice. All forms of selenium were bioavailable and similarly significantly increased the antioxidant capability of GPx in the intestine and liver of GF mice and mice with sulphate free diets. Se from nanoelemental Se resulted in similar tissue levels to inorganic and organic sources in germ free mice. Thus, endogenous mechanisms, not dependent on bacteria, reduce nanoelemental Se to the metabolite selenide that is then converted to selenophosphate, synthesised to selenocysteine, and incorporated into selenoproteins. In particular, the similar efficacy of nanoelemental Se in comparison to organic Se in both trials is important in the view of the currently limited cheap sources of Se.