Issue: Vojnosanit Pregl 2016; Vol. 73 (No. 6)

Quantitative morphometric analysis of the myenteric nervous plexus ganglion structures along the human digestive tract

Authors:
Predrag Mandić*, Tatjana Filipović*, Miloš Gašić*, Nataša Djukić-Macut*, Milan Filipović†, Ivan Bogosavljević*

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Background/Aim. All the functions of the digestive system
are controlled, guided and initiated by the autonomic nervous
system. A special part of this system placed in the wall of the
gastrointestinal tract is known as the enteric or metasympathetic
nervous system. The aim of this study was to analyse
myenteric nervous plexus in different parts of the digestive
tract. Methods. We examined the myenteric nervous plexus
of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum,
transverse colon and rectum in tissue samples taken from 30
cadavers of persons aged 20–84 years. After standard histological
processing sections were stained with hematoxylineosin,
cresyl violet (CV) and AgNO3 method. Multipurpose
test system M42 was used in morphometric analysis. The results
were analyzed by t-test and analysis of variance. Results.
The number of neurons per cm2 surface was the lowest in the
esophagus (2.045 ± 310.30) and the largest in the duodenum
(65,511 ± 5,639). The statistical processing showed significant
differences (p < 0.001) in the number of neurons between the
esophagus and all other parts of the digestive tract. The
maximal value of the average surface of the myenteric nervous
plexus neurons was observed in the esophagus (588.93 ±
30.45 μm2) and the lowest in the stomach (296.46 ± 22.53
μm2). Conclusion. There are differences in the number of
ganglion cells among different parts of the human digestive
tract. The differences range from a few to several tens of
thousands of neuron/cm2. The myenteric nervous plexus of
the esophagus was characterized by a significantly smaller
number of neurons but their bodies and nuclei are significantly
larger compared to other parts of the digestive tract.