Impact of the alterations in the interstitial cells of Cajal on intestinal motility in post-infection irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are basic components of gastrointestinal motility. However, changes in ICC and their role in post‑infection irritable bowel syndrome (PI‑IBS) remain to be elucidated. To observe the impact of alterations in the ICC on intestinal motility in a PI‑IBS mouse model, female C57BL\6 mice were infected by the oral administration of 400 Trichinella spiralis larvae. The abdominal withdrawal reflex, intestine transportation time (ITT), grain numbers, Bristol scores, wet/dry weights and the percentage water content of the mice feces every 2 h were used to assess changes in the intestinal motor function. The intestines were excised and sectioned for pathological and histochemical examination. These intestines were also used to quantify the protein and mRNA expression of c‑kit. The C57BL\6 mouse can act as a PI‑IBS model at day 56 post‑infection. Compared with the control mice, the ITT was shorter, the grain numbers, Bristol scores, wet weights and water contents of the mice feces were higher and the dry weights were unchanged in the PI‑IBS mice. The protein and mRNA expression levels of c‑kit were upregulated in the entire PI‑IBS mouse intestines. Following immunohistochemical staining, the increased number of c‑kit‑positive cells were detected predominantly in the submucosa and myenteron. These results suggested that the alterations of the ICC resulted in the changes of the intestinal motility patterns in the PI‑IBS mouse models induced by Trichinella spiralis infection, which may be the main mechanism underlying intestinal motility disorders in PI‑IBS.

Alterations in the small intestinal wall and motor function after repeated cisplatin in rat

“…As c‐KIT is highly expressed in mast cells, increased c‐KIT expression could be explained by mast cell infiltration following cisplatin‐induced damage. Interestingly, in situations of chronic inflammation such as a mouse model of postinfection irritable bowel syndrome, both proliferation of ICC and c‐KIT expression were increased . Alternative markers of ICC such as Anotacmin‐1 (ANO‐1) were also increased in murine models of tumor‐induced cachexia and diabetes, whereas ICC number decreased, suggesting increased ICC networking, as mast cells do not express ANO‐1.…”

“…Interestingly, increased ICC and c-KIT expression was associated with accelerated, not delayed, small intestinal transit. 60 Thus, changes in other components of motor function, particularly the myenteric plexus, might be more influential to produce delayed transit in our model. In the colon, both cisplatin in rats 13 and oxaliplatin in mice 14…”

β1/2 or M2/3 Receptors Are Required for Different Gastrointestinal Motility Responses Induced by Acupuncture at Heterotopic or Homotopic Acupoints

“…As described previously [20, 21], the dry-wet ratio of feces was measured to determine gastrointestinal transition rate in WT, β 1/2 -AR KO, and M 2/3 -R KO mice. Mice were separately placed in cages with wire flooring insets and allowed ad libitum access to water and food.…”

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Phenotypic Switch in Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle

“…Dysmotility occurs in overt bowel inflammatory and infective conditions as well as in functional GI disorders whose multifactorial pathogenesis is likely to be ascribed to impaired intestinal barrier function, low grade inflammation and altered neural control (Vanheel et al, 2013;Chey et al, 2015). All these pathological conditions may directly affect the overall regulatory mechanisms of motility, including the innate contractile properties of the smooth muscle cells, the innervation of the smooth muscle layers by intrinsic and extrinsic neural sources (Lin et al, 2005), or alterations of the ICC (Villanacci et al, 2008;Bettolli et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2015). It is in fact well known that inflammation has a profound impact on the neuromuscular apparatus of the GI tract either at the site of inflammation or at distance from the original site.…”