Abstract
Cell kinetic studies on the small bowel mucosa in coeliac disease have shown an increased number of proliferating cells per crypt due to a reduction in the crypt cell cycle time. Similar findings occur in rats after the intraperitoneal injection of serotonin. In vitro studies have therefore been performed to determine whether serotonin influenced cell proliferation in the human duodenal mucosa. Normal mucosal biopsies from 18 patients were cultured for 22 hours, using an organ culture technique. Specimens from 9 patients were cultured in a basic medium and from 9 patients in the basic medium with added serotonin (2mg/ml). After 18 hours a stathmokinetic technique was used to determine the crypt cell proliferation rate (CCPR) by adding vincristine sulphate (1μ/ml) to the culture medium. Tissue samples were removed at hourly intervals for A hours and the mean number of metaphase arrests in 10 whole crypts was determined. The CCPR was derived by drawing a regression line between the mean values obtained on each patient. The results indicate that serotonin significantly increases the CCPR in cultured tissues (p 0.001). Described abnormalities of serotonin synthesis jn coeliac disease may be involved in the pathogenesis of this disorder.
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Challacombe, D., Wheeler, E. The effects of serotonin on crypt cell proliferation in the human duodenal mucosa in vitro. Pediatr Res 20, 703 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198607000-00110
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198607000-00110