Morphometric study of the fibrosis and mast cell count in the circular colon musculature of chronic Chagas patients with and without megacolon.
A morphometric study of the circular colon musculature was performed, in which the mast cell count was determined and the connective fibrous tissue in this layer was measured. The objective was to gain better understanding of Chagas megacolon morphology and contribute towards the knowledge of fibrosis pathogenesis in Chagas megas. An evaluation was made of 15 distal sigmoid rings from Chagas patients with megacolon (MCC), 15 without megacolon (CSMC) and 15 non-Chagas patients (NC). The rings were fixed in formol, embedded in paraffin, and 7mm thick sections were cut and stained using Azan-Heidenhain and Giemsa. The mast cell count and fibrosis were greater in the MCC group than in the CSMC and NC groups (p< 0,05; Kruskal-Wallis test) and there was no significant difference between the latter two. The fibrosis and increased mast cell count in the colon musculature of the MCC group possibly indicates that there is a relationship between mastocytosis and fibrosis, as has already been demonstrated in other pathologies.
Pinheiro
Simone Wanderley
SW
Faculdade de Medicina do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG, Brasil.
Rua
Adilha Misson de Oliveira
AM
Etchebehere
Renata Margarida
RM
Cançado
Cristiane Gobbo
CG
Chica
Javier Em lio Lazo
JE
Lopes
Edison Reis
ER
Adad
Sheila Jorge
SJ
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002452:Cell Count; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D003106:Colon / Q000473:pathology; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D008531:Megacolon / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000473:pathology*