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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Immunostaining to Visualize Murine Enteric Nervous System Development
Published on: April 29, 2015
Immunohistochemical study of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) enteric neurons in diabetic rats supplemented with
Eder Paulo Belato Alves1, Angela Maria Pereira Alves, Renata Virginia Fernandes Pereira
1Department of Morphophysiological Sciences, Laboratory of Enteric Neurons, State University of Maringa, Avenida Colombo, 5790 Bloco H-79, CEP 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil. ederpaulo.uem@gmail.com
Abstract:
The purpose of this work was to study the area of the varicosities of nerve fibers of myenteric neurons immunoreactive to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP-IR) and of the cell bodies of VIP-IR submucosal neurons of the jejunum of diabetic rats supplemented with 2% L-glutamine. Twenty male rats were divided into the following groups: normoglycemic (N), normoglycemic supplemented with L-glutamine (NG), diabetic (D) and diabetic supplemented with L-glutamine (DG). Whole-mounts of the muscle tunica and the submucosal layer were subjected to the immunohistochemical technique for neurotransmitter VIP identification. Morphometric analyses were carried out in 500 VIP-IR cell bodies of submucosal neurons and 2000 VIP-IR varicosities from each group. L-Glutamine supplementation to the normoglycemic animals caused an increase in the areas of the cell bodies (8.49%) and varicosities (21.3%) relative to the controls (P < 0.05). On the other hand, there was a decrease in the areas of the cell bodies (4.55%) and varicosities (28.9%) of group DG compared to those of group D (P < 0.05). It is concluded that L-glutamine supplementation was positive both to normoglycemic and diabetic animals.
