Makowska Krystyna, Fagundes Kainã R C, de Britto Mari Renata, Gonkowski Sławomir
Department of Clinical Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland.
Institute of Biosciences - Coastal Campus, São Paulo State University (Unesp), São Paulo, Brasil.
PLoS One. 2025 Apr 4;20(4):e0321339. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321339. eCollection 2025.
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a complex structure located in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. One of the less-known active substances found in the ENS is cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CART). It is known that CART-positive enteric neurons take part in the reactions to pathological stimuli, but knowledge of physiological stimuli-dependent changes in their population is extremely limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the age- and gender-dependent diversities in the distribution of CART-positive neurons in the porcine colonic ENS using the double immunofluorescence technique. The obtained results have shown that age affects the number of CART-positive neurons in the colonic ENS and the character and intensity of age-caused changes depend on the type of the enteric plexus, and the most visible changes have been noted in the myenteric plexus in which the percentage of CART-positive neurons amounted to 22.3 ± 0.2% in young females, 20.7 ± 0.4% in young males, 23.7 ± 0.2% in adult females and 25.8 ± 01% in adult males. Moreover, during the present study, sex-dependent diversities in the percentage of CART-positive neurons were found, especially in adult animals. The obtained results suggest that CART in the ENS takes part in neuroplasticity processes occurring during the development, maturation and/or aging of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as that the number of CART-positive neurons is controlled by sex hormones and depends on the gender. However, the elucidation of all aspects connected with the influence of age and gender on the population of CART-positive neurons in the ENS requires further comprehensive studies.
肠神经系统（ENS）是位于胃肠道壁内的复杂结构。在肠神经系统中发现的一种鲜为人知的活性物质是可卡因和苯丙胺调节转录肽（CART）。已知CART阳性肠神经元参与对病理刺激的反应，但关于其数量随生理刺激的变化情况的了解极为有限。本研究的目的是利用双重免疫荧光技术研究猪结肠肠神经系统中CART阳性神经元分布的年龄和性别依赖性差异。所得结果表明，年龄会影响结肠肠神经系统中CART阳性神经元的数量，且年龄引起的变化特征和强度取决于肠神经丛的类型，其中最明显的变化出现在肌间神经丛，在该神经丛中，CART阳性神经元的百分比在年轻雌性中为22.3±0.2%，在年轻雄性中为20.7±0.4%，在成年雌性中为23.7±0.2%，在成年雄性中为25.8±0.1%。此外，在本研究过程中，发现了CART阳性神经元百分比的性别依赖性差异，尤其是在成年动物中。所得结果表明，肠神经系统中的CART参与了胃肠道发育、成熟和/或衰老过程中发生的神经可塑性过程，并且CART阳性神经元的数量受性激素控制并取决于性别。然而，要阐明与年龄和性别对肠神经系统中CART阳性神经元数量的影响相关的所有方面，还需要进一步的综合研究。
