Population Density of Myoenteric Neurons of the Glandular Stomach’s Greater Gastric Curvature of Chronic Alcoholism-Induced Rats

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Alexandre Cezário dos
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Ladoninsky, Lucas Henrique, Tochetto, Luana Rosa Anger, Carneiro, Joana Paula, Oriente, Alesandra, Bianchi, Fábio José, Oliveira-Bianchi, Larissa Renata de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Saúde e Pesquisa (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unicesumar.edu.br/index.php/saudpesq/article/view/1571
• topic: Enteric Neurons; Stomach; Alcoholism; Myoenteric Plexus.; Neurônios Entéricos; Estômago; Alcoolismo; Plexo Mientérico.

Alcoholism is a serious disease that affects several organs such as liver, stomach, pancreas, mouth, kidneys, and also the vestibular system. The stomach, the largest segment of the digestive tract, is formed by a kind of pouch located at the left side of the abdominal cavity. Since it carries out chemical and mechanical digestion, it absorbs some substances such as alcohol and drugs. The enteric nervous system functions as a brain located in the gastrointestinal tract (TGI) and shifts the control of the visceral nervous system to the enteric nervous one. In mammals, the myoenteric plexus is located in the muscular wall between the longitudinal and circular muscle layer or slightly shifted to the inside of one of these strata. Current research analyzes the effect of alcohol on the population density of glandular stomach myoenteric neurons of the greater and lesser gastric curvature of rats with chronic alcoholism. Fourteen 90-day-old rats were divided into two groups: control group (seven animals) received water and food during 120 days and the experimental group (seven animals) received a diet of sugarcane liquor during the same period. The animals were then killed and their stomachs removed. Giemsa staining was undertaken for quantitative analysis of neurons and 40 sites of each animal were analyzed. Data were analyzed by Student’s t test, with 5% significance. Experimental animals gained less weight and consumed 7% less food than control animals after a period of 120 days of treatment. The neurons of the alcoholic animals had a lower (29.85%) and a higher (41.7%) mean number of neurons respectively in the lesser and greater gastric curvatures of the alcoholics rats’ stomach. Results show that high neuronal density existed in alcoholic rats’ gastric greater curvature than in their lesser gastric curvature.