Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1997 Mar;9(1):25-32.
doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2982.1997.d01-4.x.

Effect of truncal vagotomy and capsaicin on mast cells and IgA-positive plasma cells in rat jejunal mucosa

T Gottwald  1 , S Lhoták, R H Stead
Affiliations

Effect of truncal vagotomy and capsaicin on mast cells and IgA-positive plasma cells in rat jejunal mucosa

T Gottwald et al. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 1997 Mar.

Abstract

Immunocompetent cells, including mast cells and plasma cells (PC), in the intestinal mucosa are closely apposed to nerve fibres. Recent work has shown that vagal afferent nerves penetrate the jejunal mucosa and contact intestinal mucosal mast cells (IMMC); and that electrical stimulation of the vagus results in increased IMMC histamine content. To determine if the vagus nerve exerts a trophic effect on immunocompetent cells in the gut mucosa, the effects of truncal vagotomy and neonatal capsaicin treatment on IMMC and IgA containing PC in the lamina propria of rat jejunum were investigated. Three weeks after vagotomy, microdensitometric assessment of Alcian blue stained sections revealed 25% fewer IMMC in vagotomized animals than in controls (P < 0.05). Three months after neonatal capsaicin administration 28% fewer IMMC were found in treated rat jejunum, compared with littermate controls (P < 0.05). Three weeks post-surgery, IgA-PC densities were increased in both vagotomized animals (that also underwent pyloroplasty) and pyloroplasty controls, compared to animals subjected to laparotomy only. The proportion of lamina propria areas remained stable, indicating that the observations reflected real reductions in the numbers of IMMC. We also determined the densities of B-50 (a nerve growth-associated protein, also called GAP-43) immunoreactive nerve fibres in the lamina propria, as well as nerve profile areas, three weeks after vagotomy, and these parameters were unchanged. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that the vagus exerts a trophic effect on IMMC; and that capsaicin-sensitive nerves also affect the IMMC population. These data add to the growing body of evidence for a functional connection between IMMC and the nervous system.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources