VINYL COATING OF GRAPHITE PLATES FOR ULTRASONIC INSPECTION

A process has been developed for application of a thin, adherent vinyi plastic coating to graphite plates to prevent absorption of coupling fluids'' used in ultrasonic inspection. The plates are preheated and dipped mechanically in a fluid plastisol, and the resulting coating is fused in an infra-red heater. No significant attenuation of ultrasonic impulse results from presence of the coating. After inspection, the vinyl sheath may be easily stripped from the plate. (auth

THE NEUROMUSCULAR COMPARTMENT IN INTESTINAL DYSMOTILITY: STATE OF THE ART

The disorders of gastrointestinal motility comprise a heterogeneous group of chronic conditions, which are considered to be relevant for public health, since they are very common, can be disabling, and induce major social and economic burdens. Abnormal bowel motility is associated with a wide range of diseases, differing for etiopathogenic mechanisms, pathologic lesions, and region of gut involvement (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, slow transit constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease). These motor disturbances are suggestive of alterations of enteric neuromuscular cellular components, including cells of the enteric nervous system (i.e. myenteric neurons, glial cells, interstitial cells of Cajal), and circular and longitudinal smooth muscle cells. Although the presence of intestinal dysmotility in patients with the above gut disorders has been well established in the clinical setting, scarce attention has been paid to the respective morphological arrangements of enteric cellular networks in the neuromuscular compartment of gut wall. In this regard, previous attempts, made to obtain reliable quantitative estimations of enteric cells involved in gut motility, yielded hardly comparable, or even conflicting, results. Thus, in order to overcome the lack or heterogeneity of current data, careful morphological examinations and development of standardized procedures are particularly required in the field of gastrointestinal neuromuscular pathology, as recently suggested (Knowles et al., Acta Neuropathol 2009; Knowles et al., Gut 2010)

Immunohistochemical analysis of myenteric ganglia and interstitial cells of Cajal in ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease with alterations of colonic motility, which influence clinical symptoms. Although morpho-functional abnormalities in the enteric nervous system have been suggested, in UC patients scarce attention has been paid to possible changes in the cells that control colonic motility, including myenteric neurons, glial cells and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). This study evaluated the neural-glial components of myenteric ganglia and ICC in the colonic neuromuscular compartment of UC patients by quantitative immunohistochemical analysis. Full-thickness archival samples of the left colon were collected from 10 patients with UC (5 males, 5 females; age range 45-62 years) who underwent elective bowel resection. The colonic neuromuscular compartment was evaluated immunohistochemically in paraffin cross-sections. The distribution and number of neurons, glial cells and ICC were assessed by anti-HuC/D, -S100\u3b2 and -c-Kit antibodies, respectively. Data were compared with findings on archival samples of normal left colon from 10 sex- and age-matched control patients, who underwent surgery for uncomplicated colon cancer. Compared to controls, patients with UC showed: (i) reduced density of myenteric HuC/D+ neurons and S100\u3b2+ glial cells, with a loss over 61% and 38%, respectively, and increased glial cell/neuron ratio; (ii) ICC decrease in the whole neuromuscular compartment. The quantitative variations of myenteric neuro-glial cells and ICC indicate considerable alterations of the colonic neuromuscular compartment in the setting of mucosal inflammation associated with UC, and provide a morphological basis for better understanding the motor abnormalities often observed in UC patient

Colonic smooth muscle cells and interstitial cells of Cajal in diverticular disease

Intestinal motility is regulated by complex interactions among smooth muscle cells (SMC) of muscularis propria, enteric nerve endings and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). In colonic SMC, transmenbrane channels rich in connexin (Cx), in particular Cx43, contribute to intercellular gap junctions, which ensure coordinated motor responses to nerve inputs. ICC are pacemaker cells which modulate neuroenteric transmission by connecting SMC with varicosities of myenteric neuron axons. There is evidence that SMC motility and gap junction permeability are regulated by the GTPase RhoA, an emerging key modulator of SMC phenotype. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the patterns of Cx43 and RhoA expression in SMC, as well as ICC density in colonic specimens from patients affected by diverticular disease (DD), a condition associated with colonic motor dysfunction. The muscularis propria of surgical whole thickness colonic samples from DD patients was examined immunohistochemically for the expression of Cx43 and RhoA in SMC, and c-kit in ICC. Semiquantitative analysis of DD colonic specimens displayed a marked decrease in Cx43 and RhoA expression in SMC. There was also a reduced ICC density in myenteric ganglia (ICC-MY), circular (ICC-CM) and longitudinal (ICC-LM) muscle, as compared to controls. Overall, it is suggested that abnormalities in gap junctions and RhoA expression in SMC, together with a reduced density of muscular ICC, account for the colonic dismotility occurring in DD

Lo Sviluppo Prenatale dell'Uomo--Embriologia ad Orientamento Medico

Sviluppo umano trattato dettagliatamente: i Capp. 1-4 (pp. 1-71) e 17 (pp. 380-418) sono stati curati dal Prof. U. Armat

Immunohistochemical Analysis of Myenteric Ganglia and Interstitial Cells of Cajal in Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease with alterations of colonic motility, which influence clinical symptoms. Although morpho-functional abnormalities in the enteric nervous system have been suggested, in UC patients scarce attention has been paid to possible changes in the cells that control colonic motility, including myenteric neurons, glial cells, and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). This study evaluated the neural-glial components of myenteric ganglia and ICC in the colonic neuromuscular compartment of UC patients by quantitative immunohistochemical analysis. Full-thickness archival samples of the left colon were collected from 10 patients with UC (5 M, 5 F; age range, 45-62 years) who underwent elective bowel resection. The colonic neuromuscular compartment was evaluated immunohistochemically in paraffin cross-sections. The distribution and number of neurons, glial cells and ICC were assessed by anti-HuC/D, -S100\u3b2 and -c-Kit antibodies, respectively. Data were compared with findings on archival samples of normal left colon from 10 sex- and age-matched control patients, who underwent surgery for uncomplicated colon cancer. Compared to controls, patients with UC showed: (a) reduced density of myenteric HuC/D-positive neurons and S100\u3b2-positive glial cells, with a loss over 61% and 38%, respectively, and increased glial cell/neuron ratio; (b) ICC decrease in the whole neuromuscular compartment. The quantitative variations of myenteric neuro-glial cells and ICC indicate considerable alterations of the colonic neuromuscular compartment in the setting of mucosal inflammation associated with UC, and provide a morphological basis for better understanding the motor abnormalities often observed in UC patients