Morphometry of myenteric neurons in stomach

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Neuroscience
• Anatomy

Background:

• The gastrointestinal tract wall contains extensive nerve plexuses crucial for regulating peristalsis.
• The myenteric plexus, a key ganglionated network, is situated between the stomach's smooth muscle layers.
• Stomach regions (fundus, body, pylorus) exhibit distinct muscular arrangements and functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the myenteric plexus in all regions of the stomach.
• To quantify neuron collections, neuron counts per collection, and neuron size (diameter and area).

Main Methods:

• Stomach wall samples (1 cm) were obtained from 5 cadavers.
• Paraffin sections (5 and 10 µm) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin.
• Morphometrical analysis was performed using light microscopy and Image-Pro Express software.

Main Results:

• The fundus exhibited the highest average number of neuron collections (4.521), with an average of 5.27 neurons per collection.
• The body contained 3.292 collections (mean 3.198 neurons), and the pylorus had 3.883 collections (mean 4.411 neurons).
• Neuron size distribution varied: fundus (11.3% small, 69.5% medium, 19.1% large), body (8.7% small, 80.6% medium, 11.2% large), and pylorus (11.1% small, 74.3% medium, 14.5% large).

Conclusions:

• Significant variations exist in the myenteric plexus structure across the stomach's fundus, body, and pylorus.
• Neuron density and size distribution in the myenteric plexus differ by stomach region.
• These findings contribute to understanding regional gastric function and neural control.