title: Ghrelin-producing cells exist as two types of cells, closed- and opened-type cells, in the rat gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Ghrelin was recently isolated from the rat stomach as an endogenous ligand for the growth-hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) and is known to exist in the gastrointestinal tract and hypothalamus. In this study, we investigated in detail the distribution and morphologic characteristics of ghrelin-containing cells (ghrelin cells) in the gastrointestinal tract by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Ghrelin cells were found to be localized in the mucous membrane of the stomach, duodenum, ileum, cecum and colon but not in myenteric plexus, and they can be classified into open- and closed-type cells. The greatest number of ghrelin cells was found in the stomach, and it was found that the number of the opened-type cells gradually increased in the direction from stomach to the lower gastrointestinal tract. These results suggest that the two types of ghrelin cells may be distinctly regulated and play different physiological roles in various regions of the gastrointestinal tract.
authors.affiliation: Department of Regulation Biology, Faculty of Science, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-ohkubo, Saitama, 338-8570, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Yuijiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kangawa
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004064:Digestive System / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D054439:Ghrelin; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D010455:Peptides