Distribution and ultrastructural characteristics of enteric glial cell in the chicken cecum

Enteric glial cell (EGC) is involved in neuroimmune regulation within the enteric nervous system (ENS); however, limited information exists on the distribution and ultrastructure of EGC in the poultry gut. We aim to investigate the morphological features and distribution of EGC in the chicken cecum. Here, we investigated the distribution and ultrastructural features of chicken cecum EGC using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). IHC showed that EGC was widely distributed throughout the chicken cecum. In the mucosal layer, EGC was morphologically irregular, with occasionally interconnecting protrusions that outlined signal-negative neurons. The morphology of EGC in the submucosal layer was also irregular. In the inner circular muscle layer and between the inner circular and outer longitudinal muscle layers, EGC aligned parallel to the circular muscle cells. A small number of EGC with an irregular morphology were found in the outer longitudinal muscle layer. In addition, in the submucosal and myenteric plexus, EGC were aggregated, and the protrusions of the immunoreactive cells interconnected to outline the bodies of nonreactive neurons. TEM-guided ultrastructural characterization confirmed the IHC findings that EGC were morphologically irregular and revealed they developed either a star, bipolar, or fibrous shape. The nucleus was also irregular, with electron-dense heterochromatin distributed in the center of the nucleus or on the nuclear membrane. The cytoplasm contained many glial filaments and vesicle-containing protrusions from neuronal cells; organelles were rare. EGC was in close contact with other cells in their vicinity. These findings suggest that EGC is well-situated to exert influence on intestinal motility and immune functions through mechanical contraction and chemical secretion.