Histological, biochemical and pharmacological characterization of the gastric muscular layer in Chagas disease.

Purpose: To assess in vitro the correlation between the number of neurons and the sensitivity to cholinergic drugs and acetylcholinesterase activity in chagasic patients.

Methods: A 3 x 1 cm strip of the muscle layer of the anterior part of the stomach, always close to the angular incisure, was removed from 10 chronic chagasic patients (6 men) submitted to megaesophagus or megacolon surgery and from 10 non-chagasic patients (4 men) submitted to other types of surgery (control group), aged on average 52.3 and 50.