Endocrine cells and nerve ganglia of the small intestine of the Opossum Didelphis aurita Wied-Neuwied, 1826 (Mammalia: Didelphidae)

Gláucia M Freitas-Ribeiro,Alan Loures-Ribeiro,Sirlene S.R Sartori,Clóvis A Neves,Cláudio C Fonseca

doi:10.1590/s0001-37652012005000045

Abstract

The nervous and endocrine systems jointly control intestinal movements, secretions of their glands and also participate of the processes of nutrient digestion and absorption. Therefore, the central objective of this study was to verify the existence of a possible relationship between the number of nervous cells and ganglia of the submucosal and myenteric plexuses and the number of endocrine cells in the small intestine of adult D. aurita. The utilized staining techniques were Grimelius, modified Masson-Fontana, direct immunoperoxidase and H-E. Argyrophillic, argentaffin and insulin immunoreactive endocrine cells do not numerically vary between the initial, mid and final regions of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum (P>0.05), except for argyrophillic cells in the jejunum (P>0.05). No numerical relationship has yet been verified between the number of nerve ganglia and endocrine cells, and also between nervous and endocrine cells. We recommended the use of new immunohistochemical techniques to confirm the numerical correlation between the nervous and endocrine systems in the small intestine. The morphology and distribution of endocrine cells and the nerve ganglia studied were similar to those encountered in eutherian mammals.

Highlights

Marsupials of the genus Didelphis have already been utilized as a model in studies of enteroen docrine cells, aiding in aspects of their identification, Enteroendocrine cells can be classified as argyrophillic or argentaffin by their capacity to retain and reduce silver salts in both open and closed cells, in accordance with the apical communicationGLÁUCIA M
In addition to the endocrine control of the gastrointestinal functions performed by the entero endocrine cells, there is the neural control performed by nerve cells present on the wall of the digestive tube, pancreas and biliary system, constituting the enteric nervous system (Furness 2000)
The mucous layer of the small intestine of D. aurita generally consists of digitiform villosities in all three segments (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Marsupials of the genus Didelphis have already been utilized as a model in studies of enteroen docrine cells, aiding in aspects of their identification, Enteroendocrine cells can be classified as argyrophillic or argentaffin by their capacity to retain and reduce silver salts in both open and closed cells, in accordance with the apical communicationGLÁUCIA M. In addition to the endocrine control of the gastrointestinal functions performed by the entero endocrine cells, there is the neural control performed by nerve cells present on the wall of the digestive tube, pancreas and biliary system, constituting the enteric nervous system (Furness 2000). This system contains two ganglion plexuses in the intestine, the myenteric and submucosal plexuses, where the majority of intrinsic nerve cells reside. The nervous and endocrine systems jointly control intestinal movements, secretion of its glands and participate indirectly in the processes of nutrient digestion and absorption (Rodrigues et al 2005)

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