Adrenergic innervation of bowel in Hirschsprung's disease.
The adrenergic innervation of normal and aganglionic regions of bowel from patients with Hirschsprung's disease was investigated by a fluorescent histochemical technique. In normal bowel the adrenergic nerves end about intramural ganglion cells. In aganglionic bowel the adrenergic nerves form a dense varicose plexus in both muscularis externa and muscularis mucosae. It is suggested that the cause of megacolon in Hirschsprung's disease is due to a lack of nervous pathways controlling the intrinsic reflexes, which is probably congenital in origin.
D003106:Colon / Q000294:innervation*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008531:Megacolon / Q000209:etiology*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000294:innervation; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System