Serum from achalasia patients alters neurochemical coding in the myenteric plexus and nitric oxide mediated motor response in normal human fundus.

Background And Aims: Achalasia is a disease of unknown aetiology. An immune mechanism has been suggested on the basis of previous morphological observations. The objective of this study was to test whether the serum of achalasia patients could reproduce the phenotype and functional changes that occur with disease progression in an ex vivo human model.

Neurochemical coding of myenteric neurones in the human gastric fundus.

The major functions of the stomach are under the control of the enteric nervous system (ENS), but the neuronal circuits involved in this control are largely unknown in humans. Enteric neurones can be characterized by their neuromediator or marker content, i.e.