Ultrastructural changes of the human enteric nervous system and interstitial cells of Cajal in diverticular disease.

Background: In spite of numerous advances in understanding diverticular disease, its pathogenesis remains one of the main problems to be solved. We aimed to investigate the ultrastructural changes of the enteric nervous system in unaffected individuals, in asymptomatic patients with diverticulosis and in patients with diverticular disease.

Methods: Transmission electron microscopy was used to analyse samples of the myenteric, outer submucosal and inner submucosal plexuses from patients without diverticula (n=9), asymptomatic patients with diverticulosis (n=7) and in patients with complicated diverticular disease (n=9).

Neuroanatomy of the Pig Cardiac Ventricles. A Stereomicroscopic, Confocal and Electron Microscope Study.

Although the pig is a model for heart disease, the neuroanatomy of cardiac ventricles (CV) in this species remains undetailed. We aimed to define the innervation pattern of pig CV, combining histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase, immunofluorescent labeling and electron microscopy. Forty nine examined pig hearts show that the major nerves supplying the ventral side of CV descend from the venous part of the heart hilum.

Innervation of the rabbit cardiac ventricles.

The rabbit is widely used in experimental cardiac physiology, but the neuroanatomy of the rabbit heart remains insufficiently examined. This study aimed to ascertain the architecture of the intrinsic nerve plexus in the walls and septum of rabbit cardiac ventricles. In 51 rabbit hearts, a combined approach involving: (i) histochemical acetylcholinesterase staining of intrinsic neural structures in total cardiac ventricles; (ii) immunofluorescent labelling of intrinsic nerves, nerve fibres (NFs) and neuronal somata (NS); and (iii) transmission electron microscopy of intrinsic ventricular nerves and NFs was used.