Piotrowska Anna Piaseczna, Solari Valeria, Puri Prem
Children's Research Centre, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children and University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2003 Sep;127(9):1182-6. doi: 10.5858/2003-127-1182-DOHOIN.
Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are pacemaker cells, which are of fundamental importance in regulating gastrointestinal motility. Recent evidence suggests that carbon monoxide is a neurotransmitter involved in neurotransmission between ICC and smooth muscle cells. Heme oxygenase-2 (HO-2) is the major physiological mechanism for the generation of carbon monoxide in the enteric nervous system.
To investigate the immunocolocalization of HO-2 and ICCs in the normal pylorus and in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS).
Specimens from 18 infants with IHPS and 8 control specimens were examined using double-immunostaining with c-Kit and HO-2 antibodies. The immunolocalization was detected with the help of confocal laser scanning microscopy.
Abundant HO-2 immunoreactivity was found in ICCs in the smooth muscle layer of normal pylorus. There was a decrease in the number of ICCs and lack of HO-2 immunoreactivity in ICCs in IHPS.
The results of the present study provide the first evidence for the presence of HO-2 in ICCs in the normal human pylorus. The lack of ICCs and HO-2 in IHPS suggests impaired intracellular communication between ICCs and smooth muscle cells, contributing to motility dysfunction in IHPS.
Cajal间质细胞（ICCs）是起搏细胞，在调节胃肠动力方面具有至关重要的作用。最近的证据表明，一氧化碳是参与ICCs与平滑肌细胞之间神经传递的神经递质。血红素加氧酶-2（HO-2）是肠神经系统中产生一氧化碳的主要生理机制。
研究HO-2与ICCs在正常幽门和婴儿肥厚性幽门狭窄（IHPS）中的免疫共定位。
采用c-Kit和HO-2抗体双重免疫染色法检测18例IHPS婴儿的标本和8例对照标本。借助共聚焦激光扫描显微镜检测免疫定位。
在正常幽门平滑肌层的ICCs中发现大量HO-2免疫反应性。在IHPS中，ICCs数量减少且ICCs中缺乏HO-2免疫反应性。
本研究结果首次证明正常人幽门的ICCs中存在HO-2。IHPS中ICCs和HO-2的缺乏表明ICCs与平滑肌细胞之间的细胞内通讯受损，这导致了IHPS中的动力功能障碍。
