Colonic endocrine cells in patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy

To establish whether the endocrine cell number is affected in the colon in Japanese FAP patients.

Department of Medicine, Umeå University Hospital and Department of Internal Medicine and Pathology, University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan.

Autopsy colon tissue specimens from 11 FAP patients and nine controls as well as 12 control biopsy specimens were included in the study.

Endocrine cells in the colon were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantified by computerized image analysis.

The autopsy material showed a slight autolysis. Neither enteroglucagon nor pancreatic polypeptide positive cells could be detected in the autopsy material, but were present in biopsy material. There was no statistical difference between autopsy and biopsy specimens regarding the number of peptide YY (PYY), somatostatin and serotonin cells. No significant differences were noted in PYY, somatostatin and serotonin immunoreactive cells in FAP patients compared to autopsy controls, though PYY cells tended to be decreased and serotonin and somatostatin cells tended to be increased in FAP patients.

The difference between the Swedish and Japanese patients in the endocrine cell content points to the possibility of involvement of other factors than the endocrine cell depletion of the colon might be involved in the pathogenesis of gastro-intestinal dysfunction in FAP. The tendency of PYY to decrease in Japanese FAP might contribute to the development of diarrhoea in these patients.