title: Morphometric and quantitative study of the myenteric neurons of the stomach of malnourished aging rats.
abstract: In this work, two groups of Wistar rats were fed ad libitum, one with standard chow (22% protein) and the other with hypoproteic chow (8% protein), from the 210th to the 345th day of life. Compared to the animals fed with standard chow, the animals fed with hypoproteic chow exhibited hypophagia (ingestion about 30% lower), mean weight gain 4.46% lower, greater amount of retroperitoneal and peri-epididymal fat (19% on average), lower Lee index, decrease of total plasma proteins and plasma globulins and maintenance of plasma albumin. The quantitative and morphometric analysis of the NADH-diaphorase positive myenteric neurons yielded a larger number of small neurons and a smaller number of medium neurons in the animals subjected to the hypoproteic chow, demonstrating that the neuronal growth was affected by the diet. In the animals fed with hypoproteic chow, a 20% decrease in the NADH-diaphorase positive neurons of the forestomach and a 10% decrease in those of the glandular stomach were observed.
authors.affiliation: Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), 87020-780, Maringá-PR, Brazil. fernandoanatomia@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Fernando Carlos
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: de Sousa
authors.forename: Marcílio Hubner de Miranda
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Neto
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D018753:Diet, Protein-Restricted; D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D008058:Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase