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.