The double immunofluorescence technique was used to examine the distribution
and interrelationship between LENK- and VIP-immunoreactive nerve fibres
within the muscle layer and myenteric plexus of the large intestine in a young
female patient (aged 17 years) suffering from colitis ulcerosa activa (CUA). As
the CUA was found to be totally drug-resistant, a pancolotomy was performed
by means of the Soave technique. Varicose nerve fibres, immunoreactive either
to LENK or VIP, but not to both substances simultaneously, were found in all
fragments of the bowel studied. A striking feature was their distribution pattern
within the studied layers. In all cases LENK-IR fibres were closely accompanied
by VIP-IR terminals. The density of the examined fibres depended on the bowel
fragment studied, and was the greatest in the sigmoid colon, descending colon
and rectum, while the lowest number was found in the caecum. The results of
the present study may thus be indicative for the involvement of LENK- and VIPIR
nerve fibres in the control of bowel functions during CUA, possibly on the
basis of a "cross-talk" between terminals running in close vicinity to each other
