Effect of protein and vitamin B deficiency on the morpho-quantitative aspects of the myenteric plexus of the descending colon of adult rats

• Autor(a) principal: Araújo,Eduardo José de Almeida
• Data de Publicação: 2003
• Outros Autores: Sant'Ana,Débora de Mello Gonçales, Molinari,Sônia Lucy, Miranda Neto,Marcílio Hubner de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2003000200012
• topic: enteric neurons; protein malnutrition; descending colon; vitamin B; myenteric plexus

We carried out this work with the purpose of studying the effects of protein and vitamin B deficiency on the morphologic and quantitative aspects of the myenteric plexus of the descending colon of adult Rattus norvegicus. Twenty-eight rats were divided in two groups, one of them receiving chow with 22% protein level (control) and the other fed with chow having 8% protein level without vitamin B supplementation, during 120 days. Whole-mounts of the descending colon were prepared and stained with Giemsa, NADH-diaphorase and NADPH-diaphorase. The undernourished rats had a body weight 11.84% less than the control group. Relative to the controls, the experimental group had a colonic area 48% smaller, 51.9% less Giemsa-stained neurons, 28.3% less NADH-diaphorase positive neurons and 24.2% less NADPH-diaphorase positive neurons.