J Vet Sci.  2002 Sep;3(3):233-238.

Regional Distribution and Relative Frequency of Gastrointestinal Endocrine Cells in Large Intestines of C57BL/6 Mice

• Ham TS

Abstract

The regional distributions and relative frequencies of some gastrointestinal endocrine cells in the three portions (cecum, colon and rectum) of the large intestinal tract of C57BL/6 mice were examined with immunohistochemical method using 7 types of specific antisera against chromogranin A (CGA), serotonin, somatostatin, human pancreatic polypeptide (HPP), glucagon, gastrin and cholecyctokinin (CCK)-8. In this study, all 3 types of immunoreactive (IR) cells were identified. Most of these IR cells in the large intestinal portion were generally spherical or spindle in shape (open-typed cell) while cells with a round shape (close-typed cell) were found in the intestinal gland. Their relative frequencies varied according to each portion of the large intestinal tract. CGA-IR cells were found throughout the whole large intestinal tract but were most predominant in the colon. Serotonin-IR cells were detected throughout the whole large intestinal tract and showed highest frequency in the colon. Peculiarly, glucagon-IR cells were restricted to the colon with a low frequency. However, no somatostatin-, HPP-, gastrin- and CCK-8-IR cells were found in the large intestinal tract. In conclusion, some peculiar distributional patterns of large intestinal endocrine cells were identified in C57BL/6 mice.

Keyword

gastrointestinal endocrine cell; immunohistochemistry; C57BL/6 mouse

MeSH Terms

Animals
Chromogranin A
Chromogranins/metabolism
Enteroendocrine Cells/*metabolism/physiology
Female
Gastrins/metabolism
Glucagon/metabolism
Immunohistochemistry/veterinary
Intestine, Large/*cytology/metabolism
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Pancreatic Polypeptide/metabolism
Serotonin/metabolism
Sincalide/metabolism
Somatostatin/metabolism