Prebiotics counteract the morphological and functional changes secondary to chronic cisplatin exposition in the proximal colon of mice.

Cisplatin is an antimitotic drug able to cause acute and chronic gastrointestinal side effects. Acute side effects are attributable to mucositis while chronic ones are due to neuropathy. Cisplatin has also antibiotic properties inducing dysbiosis which enhances the inflammatory response, worsening local damage.

Morphologic evidence of telocytes in human thyroid stromal tissue.

Despite the evidence accumulated over the past decade that telocytes (TCs) are a distinctive, though long neglected, cell entity of the stromal microenvironment of several organs of the human body, to date their localization in the endocrine glands remains almost unexplored. This study was therefore undertaken to examine the presence and characteristics of TCs in normal human thyroid stromal tissue through an integrated morphologic approach featuring light microscopy and ultrastructural analysis. TCs were first identified by immunohistochemistry that revealed the existence of an intricate network of CD34 stromal cells spread throughout the thyroid interfollicular connective tissue.

Otilonium Bromide treatment prevents nitrergic functional and morphological changes caused by chronic stress in the distal colon of a rat IBS model.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent gastrointestinal disorder characterized by periods of remission and exacerbation. Among the risk factors to develop IBS, psychosocial stress is widely acknowledged. The water avoidance stress repeatedly applied (rWAS) is considered effective to study IBS etio-pathogenesis.

Impairment in the telocyte/CD34 stromal cell network in human rheumatoid arthritis synovium.

Telocytes (TCs)/CD34 stromal cells have recently emerged as peculiar interstitial cells detectable in a variety of organs throughout the human body. TCs are typically arranged in networks establishing unique spatial relationships with neighbour cells and likely contributing to the maintenance of tissue homeostasis by both cell-to-cell contacts and releasing extracellular vesicles. Hence, TC defects are being increasingly reported in different pathologies, such as chronic inflammatory and fibrotic conditions.

Muscularis macrophages establish cell-to-cell contacts with telocytes/PDGFRα-positive cells and smooth muscle cells in the human and mouse gastrointestinal tract.

Background And Aim: Muscularis macrophages (MMs) not only mediate the innate immunity, but also functionally interact with cells important for gastrointestinal motility. The aim of this study was to determine the spatial relationship and types of contacts between the MMs and neighboring cells in the muscularis propria of human and mouse stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.

Methods: The distribution and morphology of MMs and their contacts with other cells were investigated by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy.

Nerve sprouting and neurogenic inflammation characterize the neurogenic detrusor overactive bladder of patients no longer responsive to drug therapies.

Urothelium and Lamina Propria (LP) are considered an integrate sensory system which is able to control the detrusor activity. Complete supra-sacral spinal cord lesions cause Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity (NDO) whose main symptoms are urgency and incontinence. NDO therapy at first consists in anti-muscarinic drugs; secondly, in intra-vesical injection of botulinum toxin.

Repeated otilonium bromide administration prevents neurotransmitter changes in colon of rats underwent to wrap restraint stress.

Otilonium bromide (OB) is a spasmolytic drug successfully used for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Its efficacy has been attributed to the block of L- and T-type Ca channels and muscarinic and tachykinin receptors in the smooth muscle. Furthermore, in healthy rats, repeated OB administration modified neurotransmitter expression and function suggesting other mechanisms of action.

The Telocyte Subtypes.

Several cells are endowed in the interstitial space of the connective tissue; among them, a peculiar type has been recently described and named telocyte (TC). The increasing interest on this cell type has allowed identifying it in almost all the organs. All TCs have a proper ultrastructural feature that makes them undoubtedly recognizable under the transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Telocyte's contacts.

Telocytes (TC) are an interstitial cell type located in the connective tissue of many organs of humans and laboratory mammals. By means of homocellular contacts, TC build a scaffold whose meshes integrity and continuity are guaranteed by those contacts having a mechanical function; those contacts acting as sites of intercellular communication allow exchanging information and spreading signals. Heterocellular contacts between TC and a great variety of cell types give origin to mixed networks.

Telocytes Contribute as Cell Progenitors and Differentiation Inductors in Tissue Regeneration.

According to recent literature data, a peculiar connective tissue cell, called telocyte (TC), is present in almost all organs. Furthermore, TC subtypes, often coexisting in the same organ, but having different immunohistochemical and ultrastructural characteristics, have been demonstrated. Characteristically, TC, by connecting to each other and/or with other cell types, build three-dimensional networks.

Loss of Interstitial Cells of Cajal and Patterns of Gastric Dysrhythmia in Patients With Chronic Unexplained Nausea and Vomiting.

Background & Aims: Chronic unexplained nausea and vomiting (CUNV) is a debilitating disease of unknown cause. Symptoms of CUNV substantially overlap with those of gastroparesis, therefore the diseases may share pathophysiologic features. We investigated this hypothesis by quantifying densities of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) and mapping slow-wave abnormalities in patients with CUNV vs controls.

Telocytes subtypes in human urinary bladder.

Urinary bladder voiding is a complex mechanism depending upon interplay among detrusor, urothelium, sensory and motor neurons and connective tissue cells. The identity of some of the latter cells is still controversial. We presently attempted to clarify their phenotype(s) in the human urinary bladder by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and immunohistochemistry.

Inner and outer portions of colonic circular muscle: ultrastructural and immunohistochemical changes in rat chronically treated with otilonium bromide.

Rat colonic circular muscle, main target of otilonium bromide (OB) spasmolytic activity, is subdivided in an inner and outer portion. Since the inner one is particularly rich in organelles involved in calcium availability (caveolae, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria), the expression of specific markers (Caveolin-1, eNOS, calreticulin, calsequestrin) in comparison with the outer portion was investigated. The possible changes of these organelles and related markers, and of muscarinic receptors (Mr2) were then studied after OB chronic exposition.

The KIT gene is associated with the english spotting coat color locus and congenital megacolon in Checkered Giant rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The English spotting coat color locus in rabbits, also known as Dominant white spotting locus, is determined by an incompletely dominant allele (En). Rabbits homozygous for the recessive wild-type allele (en/en) are self-colored, heterozygous En/en rabbits are normally spotted, and homozygous En/En animals are almost completely white. Compared to vital en/en and En/en rabbits, En/En animals are subvital because of a dilated ("mega") cecum and ascending colon.

Telocytes express PDGFRα in the human gastrointestinal tract.

Telocytes (TC), a cell population located in the connective tissue of many organs of humans and laboratory mammals, are characterized by a small cell body and extremely long and thin processes. Different TC subpopulations share unique ultrastructural features, but express different markers. In the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, cells with features of TC were seen to be CD34-positive/c-kit-negative and several roles have been proposed for them.

The ultrastructure of the muscle coat of human gastro-oesophageal junction, with special reference to "interstitial cells of Cajal".

The muscle coat of the human lower oesophageal sphincter and stomach was studied 5 cm above and 4 cm below the gastro-oesophageal junction. Four subjects were operated on for motility disorders of the esophagus, two for a hypertensive lower oesophageal sphincter and two for an epiphrenic diverticulum; six subjects were operated on for oesophageal or gastric carcinomas. Specimens were fixed in phosphate-buffered OsO4, embedded in Epon, contrasted with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and observed under a Siemens Elmiskop Ia electron microscope.

Evidence for progressive reduction and loss of telocytes in the dermal cellular network of systemic sclerosis.

Telocytes, a peculiar type of stromal cells, have been recently identified in a variety of tissues and organs, including human skin. Systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) is a complex connective tissue disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. We presently investigated telocyte distribution and features in the skin of SSc patients compared with normal skin.

From conception to birth: ancient library sources of embryology and women anatomy kept in the Biblioteca Biomedica of the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Biomedical Library of Florence University).

The Biomedical Library of the University of Florence boasts a prestigious group of books collected at first in 1679 at the hospital "Santa Maria Nuova" and then continuously enriched in the course of time up today. The "Antique Collection" consists of 13 incunabola, hundreds of 16th-century books, more than one thousand books on medical subject from the 1600's, about six thousand 18th-century volumes and several large, valuable anatomical atlases. In this paper the most important, curious and fascinating books dealing with human ontogeny (from embryo generation to birth) and with female anatomy (mostly concerning pregnancy and childbirth) are reported in chronological order starting from the work of Hippocrates.

Telocytes.

Here, we review the history, morphology, immunohistochemical phenotype, and presumptive roles of a new type of interstitial tissue cells, formerly called interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLC) and by 2010 named 'telocytes' (TC). Many different techniques have been used to characterize TC and provide their unequivocal identification: (i) in vitro, cultures and isolated cells; (ii) in situ, fixed specimens examined by light and fluorescence microscopy, transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy, and electron tomography. TEM allowed sure identification and characterization of the most peculiar feature of TC: the long, thin, and convoluted prolongations named 'telopodes'.

Ultrastructural differences between diabetic and idiopathic gastroparesis.

The ultrastructural changes in diabetic and idiopathic gastroparesis are not well studied and it is not known whether there are different defects in the two disorders. As part of the Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium, full thickness gastric body biopsies from 20 diabetic and 20 idiopathic gastroparetics were studied by light microscopy. Abnormalities were found in many (83%) but not all patients.

NK receptors, Substance P, Ano1 expression and ultrastructural features of the muscle coat in Cav-1(-/-) mouse ileum.

Caveolin (Cav)-1 is an integral membrane protein of caveolae playing a crucial role in various signal transduction pathways. Caveolae represent the sites for calcium entry and storage especially in smooth muscle cells (SMC) and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). Cav-1(-/-) mice lack caveolae and show abnormalities in pacing and contractile activity of the small intestine.

Immunohistochemical analysis of myenteric ganglia and interstitial cells of Cajal in ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease with alterations of colonic motility, which influence clinical symptoms. Although morpho-functional abnormalities in the enteric nervous system have been suggested, in UC patients scarce attention has been paid to possible changes in the cells that control colonic motility, including myenteric neurons, glial cells and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). This study evaluated the neural-glial components of myenteric ganglia and ICC in the colonic neuromuscular compartment of UC patients by quantitative immunohistochemical analysis.

Cellular changes in diabetic and idiopathic gastroparesis.

Background & Aims: Cellular changes associated with diabetic and idiopathic gastroparesis are not well described. The aim of this study was to describe histologic abnormalities in gastroparesis and compare findings in idiopathic versus diabetic gastroparesis.

Methods: Full-thickness gastric body biopsy specimens were obtained from 40 patients with gastroparesis (20 diabetic) and matched controls.

Telocytes as supporting cells for myocardial tissue organization in developing and adult heart.

Recent evidence indicates that the adult heart contains sub-epicardial cardiogenic niches where cardiac stem cells and stromal supporting cells reside together. Such stromal cells include a special population, previously identified as interstitial Cajal-like cells and recently termed telocytes because of their long, slender processes (telopodes) embracing the myocardial precursors. Specific stromal cells, presumptively originated from the epicardium, have been postulated to populate the developing heart where they are thought to play a role in its morphogenesis.