Harrington Andrea M, Hutson John M, Southwell Bridget R
F. Douglas Stephens Surgical Research Laboratory, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville 3052, Australia.
Prog Histochem Cytochem. 2010 Feb;44(4):173-202. doi: 10.1016/j.proghi.2009.10.001. Epub 2009 Nov 11.
There is a rich knowledge of the enteric nervous system (ENS), especially the neurochemical and neurophysiological properties of enteric neurons and how they communicate in neural circuits underlying intestinal reflexes. The major pathways of excitatory transmission within the ENS are mediated by cholinergic and tachykinergic transmission, with transmitters Acetylcholine (ACh) and Tachykinins (TK), respectively, producing excitatory potentials in post-synaptic effectors. This review focuses on the cholinergic pathways of the ENS. The cholinergic circuitry of the ENS is extensive and mediates motility (muscular) and secretory (mucosal) reflexes, in addition to intrinsic sensory and vascular reflexes. The capacity of ACh to mediate multiple physiologically significant intestinal reflexes is largely due to having multiple sites of neuronal and non-neuronal release and reception within the intestine. This review will concentrate on one of two classes of ACh receptors, Muscarinic receptors (mAChr), in particular their location and function in mediating synaptic transmission within enteric circuits underlying intestinal reflexes.
目前对肠神经系统（ENS）已有丰富的认识，尤其是关于肠神经元的神经化学和神经生理学特性，以及它们在肠道反射的神经回路中如何进行通信。肠神经系统内兴奋性传递的主要途径由胆碱能和速激肽能传递介导，递质分别为乙酰胆碱（ACh）和速激肽（TK），它们在突触后效应器中产生兴奋性电位。本综述聚焦于肠神经系统的胆碱能途径。肠神经系统的胆碱能回路广泛，除了介导内在感觉和血管反射外，还介导运动（肌肉）和分泌（黏膜）反射。ACh能够介导多种具有重要生理意义的肠道反射，这在很大程度上归因于其在肠道内具有多个神经元和非神经元释放及接收位点。本综述将聚焦于两类乙酰胆碱受体之一，即毒蕈碱受体（mAChr），特别是它们在介导肠道反射的肠回路内突触传递中的位置和功能。
