Developmental changes in heme-oxygenase-2 and bNOS expression in enteric neurons in the pig duodenum

The role of gasotransmitters in neonatal physiology

The gasotransmitters, nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and carbon monoxide (CO), are endogenously-produced volatile molecules that perform signaling functions throughout the body. In biological tissues, these small, lipid-permeable molecules exist in free gaseous form for only seconds or less, and thus they are ideal for paracrine signaling that can be controlled rapidly by changes in their rates of production or consumption. In addition, tissue concentrations of the gasotransmitters are influenced by fluctuations in the level of O₂ and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The normal transition from fetus to newborn involves a several-fold increase in tissue O₂ tensions and ROS, and requires rapid morphological and functional adaptations to the extrauterine environment. This review summarizes the role of gasotransmitters as it pertains to newborn physiology. Particular focus is given to the vasculature, ventilatory, and gastrointestinal systems, each of which uniquely illustrate the function of gasotransmitters in the birth transition and newborn periods. Moreover, given the relative lack of studies on the role that gasotransmitters play in the newborn, particularly that of H₂S and CO, important gaps in knowledge are highlighted throughout the review.

Plasticity and neural stem cells in the enteric nervous system

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a highly organized part of the autonomic nervous system, which innervates the whole gastrointestinal tract by several interconnected neuronal networks. The ENS changes during development and keeps throughout its lifespan a significant capacity to adapt to microenvironmental influences, be it in inflammatory bowel diseases or changing dietary habits. The presence of neural stem cells in the pre-, postnatal, and adult gut might be one of the prerequisites to adapt to changing conditions. During the last decade, the ENS has increasingly come into the focus of clinical neural stem cell research, forming a considerable pool of neural crest derived stem cells, which could be used for cell therapy of dysganglionosis, that is, diseases based on the deficient or insufficient colonization of the gut by neural crest derived stem cells; in addition, the ENS could be an easily accessible neural stem cell source for cell replacement therapies for neurodegenerative disorders or traumatic lesions of the central nervous system.

The distribution and chemical coding of intramural neurons supplying the porcine stomach - the study on normal pigs and on animals suffering from swine dysentery

The present study was designed to investigate the expression of biologically active substances by intramural neurons supplying the stomach in normal (control) pigs and in pigs suffering from dysentery. Eight juvenile female pigs were used. Both dysenteric (n = 4; inoculated with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae) and control (n = 4) animals were deeply anaesthetized, transcardially perfused with buffered paraformalehyde, and tissue samples comprising all layers of the wall of the ventricular fundus were collected. The cryostat sections were processed for double-labelling immunofluorescence to study the distribution of the intramural nerve structures (visualized with antibodies against protein gene-product 9.5) and their chemical coding using antibodies against vesicular acetylcholine (ACh) transporter (VAChT), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), galanin (GAL), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), somatostatin (SOM), Leu(5)-enkephalin (LENK), substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). In both inner and outer submucosal plexuses of the control pigs, the majority of neurons were SP (55% and 58%, respectively)- or VAChT (54%)-positive. Many neurons stained also for CGRP (43 and 45%) or GAL (20% and 18%) and solitary perikarya were NOS-, SOM- or VIP-positive. The myenteric plexus neurons stained for NOS (20%), VAChT (15%), GAL (10%), VIP (7%), SP (6%) or CGRP (solitary neurons), but they were SOM-negative. No intramural neurons immunoreactive to LENK were found. The most remarkable difference in the chemical coding of enteric neurons between the control and dysenteric pigs was a very increased number of GAL- and VAChT-positive nerve cells (up to 61% and 85%, respectively) in submucosal plexuses of the infected animals. The present results suggest that GAL and ACh have a specific role in local neural circuits of the inflamed porcine stomach in the course of swine dysentery.

Effects of hypoxia on stress proteins in the piglet brain at birth

Newborn piglets were submitted to normobaric hypoxia (5% O2, 95% N2) for either 1 or 4 h. The effects of hypoxia on the neonatal brain were characterized through a time-course analysis of levels of various proteins such as heat shock proteins (HSP27, 70, and 90), hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), hemeoxygenase-2 (HO-2), and caspase-3. The expression of these proteins was determined at different stages of recovery up to 72 h in cerebellum, cortex, and hippocampus by Western blot analysis in hypoxic maintained animals that were made hypoxic at either 20 or 37 degrees C. In all regions of the brain, HIF-1alpha and HSP27 expression were strongly increased until 22 h of recovery. No significant changes were observed for HSP70, HSP90, and HO-2. A small elevation of expression of nNOS was observed at early stages in the cerebellum and the cortex with no change in the hippocampus. Expression of caspase 3 was strongly increased in the cortex 24 and 48 h after hypoxia but unchanged in the hippocampus. These results are presented in terms of the porcine model of nonischemic hypoxia and its delayed neuronal effects on the cerebral outcome. Because of their recently established biochemical and functional interactions, the expression of the main HSPs, HIF-1alpha, nNOS, and caspase-3 after hypoxia are delineated.