Abstract 46
Aim : Acethylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemical staining has been widely used to study innervation of the gastrointestinal tract, but fresh tissue is considered a prerequisite for satisfactory results. The whole mount preparation technique produces three dimensional picture that are more informative than conventional sections.
Subjects: Bowel specimens were obtained from patients after death within 12 hours (7 patient), 13-24 hours (5 patients), 24-48 hours (3 patients). Tissue was also obtained from the normal small or large bowel from 7 patients who underwent bowel resection because of different causes.
Results: Strong AChE staining of nerve fibers and ganglion cells were seen in myenteric and submucosus plexuses.
Conclusions: This study shows for the first time that histochemical AChE staining in the whole mount preparation of human bowel is a robust technique for the demonstrating meshlike neuronal network in specimens obtained up to 48 hours after death.
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Nemeth, L., O'Briain, D. & Puri, P. Whole-mount Acetylcholinesterase histochemical staining is a reliable technique for demonstrating innervation in postmortem bowel specimens. Pediatr Res 44, 426 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199809000-00079
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199809000-00079