Maternal protein restriction induces gastrointestinal dysfunction and enteric nervous system remodeling in rat offspring.

Early-life adversity is a major risk factor for the development of diseases later in life. Maternal protein restriction (MPR) is associated with morbidities in offspring affecting multiple organs, but its impact on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract remains poorly studied. Using a rat model, we examined the consequences of MPR on GI function and on the enteric nervous system (ENS) in the offspring at postnatal d 35 under basal state and following a water avoidance stress (WAS). Compared with control rats, MPR rats exhibited greater colonic motility, permeability, and corticosteronemia. In contrast to controls, MPR rats presented a blunted functional and corticosteronemic response to WAS. Furthermore, MPR rats showed an increased proportion of choline acetyltransferase-immunoreactive (ChAT-IR) neurons and a reduced level of autophagy in colonic myenteric neurons. In ENS cultures, corticosterone treatment increased the proportion of ChAT-IR neurons and reduced autophagy level in enteric neurons. Inhibition of autophagy in ENS cultures resulted in a higher vulnerability of enteric neurons to a cellular stress. Altogether, this study suggests that MPR induced GI dysfunction and ENS alterations in offspring rats and that MPR-induced increased corticosteronemia might be involved in ENS remodeling and altered responsiveness of the gut to stressors later in life.-Aubert, P., Oleynikova, E., Rizvi, H., Ndjim, M., Le Berre-Scoul, C., Grohard, P. A., Chevalier, J., Segain, J.-P., Le Drean, G., Neunlist, M., Boudin, H. Maternal protein restriction induces gastrointestinal dysfunction and enteric nervous system remodeling in rat offspring.

A novel enteric neuron-glia coculture system reveals the role of glia in neuronal development.

KEY POINTS: Unlike astrocytes in the brain, the potential role of enteric glial cells (EGCs) in the formation of the enteric neuronal circuit is currently unknown. To examine the role of EGCs in the formation of the neuronal network, we developed a novel neuron-enriched culture model from embryonic rat intestine grown in indirect coculture with EGCs. We found that EGCs shape axonal complexity and synapse density in enteric neurons, through purinergic- and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-dependent pathways. Using a novel and valuable culture model to study enteric neuron-glia interactions, our study identified EGCs as a key cellular actor regulating neuronal network maturation. ABSTRACT: In the nervous system, the formation of neuronal circuitry results from a complex and coordinated action of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. In the CNS, extrinsic mediators derived from astrocytes have been shown to play a key role in neuronal maturation, including dendritic shaping, axon guidance and synaptogenesis. In the enteric nervous system (ENS), the potential role of enteric glial cells (EGCs) in the maturation of developing enteric neuronal circuit is currently unknown. A major obstacle in addressing this question is the difficulty in obtaining a valuable experimental model in which enteric neurons could be isolated and maintained without EGCs. We adapted a cell culture method previously developed for CNS neurons to establish a neuron-enriched primary culture from embryonic rat intestine which was cultured in indirect coculture with EGCs. We demonstrated that enteric neurons grown in such conditions showed several structural, phenotypic and functional hallmarks of proper development and maturation. However, when neurons were grown without EGCs, the complexity of the axonal arbour and the density of synapses were markedly reduced, suggesting that glial-derived factors contribute strongly to the formation of the neuronal circuitry. We found that these effects played by EGCs were mediated in part through purinergic P2Y1 receptor- and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-dependent pathways. Using a novel and valuable culture model to study enteric neuron-glia interactions, our study identified EGCs as a key cellular actor required for neuronal network maturation.

Medical and social legal aspects of the use of hydrophyte plants for food

The species diversity of hydrophytes suitable for human consumption and the possibility of their introduction into the practice of organic farming and sustainable polyculture are explored in the article. The economic and environmental potential of shallow freshwater areas and waterlogged areas are discussed from the perspective of sustainable agriculture. The possibility of using some hydrophyte plants for food and drugs is indicated. The necessity of using the practice of traditional nature management by the native population in relation to water and near-water food plants is mentioned. The relevant issues of providing the growing population of the Earth with food and technical plant raw materials from hydrophytes are discussed. It has been established that a necessary condition for the operation of the market for wild-growing medicinal hydrophytes in accordance with the concept of sustainable development is its efficient legal regulation at all levels.