chronic constipation is still considered a functional or idiopathic disorder. however, in recent years there is evidence that its pathopysiological grounds may be actually due to a complex system of abnormalities of the enteric nervous system of these patients. in particular, as reported in this review, the enteric glial cells seem to be constantly involved in constipated patients, suggesting t...

BACKGROUND and objectives: In this study, we investigated how enteric plexuses protect themselves from complement mediated attack. For this purpose, the expression patterns of membrane bound complement regulatory proteins (mCRP) and their association with C3 deposition was determined. In addition, mCRP expression patterns of enteric plexuses were compared with those in the central nervous syste...

Wound healing of the gastrointestinal mucosa is essential for the maintenance of gut homeostasis and integrity. Enteric glial cells play a major role in regulating intestinal barrier function, but their role in mucosal barrier repair remains unknown. The impact of conditional ablation of enteric glia on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mucosal damage and on healing of diclofenac-induced muc...

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a network of neurons and glia within the wall of the gastrointestinal tract that is able to control many aspects of digestive function independently from the central nervous system. Enteric glial cells share several features with astrocytes and are closely associated with enteric neurons and their processes both within enteric ganglia, and along interconnecti...

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic non-specific inflammatory disease affecting the mucosa and the submucosa of the colon, and is characterized by alterations of gut functions which influence the clinical symptoms (Fiocchi, 1998; Reddy et al., 1991; Spriggs et al., 1951). Although reports showed morpho-functional abnormalities of the enteric nervous system in UC patients, the available literat...

The similarities between the enteric nervous system of the gut and the central nervous system (CNS), both of which function as complex integrative nervous networks, include striking ultrastructural similarities between the glia of the enteric nervous system and the astrocytic glia of the CNS. In this paper we have determined whether this anatomical resemblance also extends to the molecular leve...

As yet, little is known about the function of the glia of the enteric nervous system (ENS), particularly in an immune-stimulated environment. This prompted us to study the potential of cultured enteroglial cells for cytokine synthesis and secretion. Jejunal myenteric plexus preparations from adult rats were enzymatically dissociated, and enteroglial cells were purified by complement-mediated cy...