Glial cells coordinate immune responses in the gut following infection. Researchers report glial cells could be targets for therapeutics to treat inflammatory bowel disorders.
Findings shed new light on the gut's enteric nervous system, offering hope for treatments for a range of disorders.
Study highlights how the enteric nervous system acts similarly to neural networks in the brain and spinal cord.
Neural mapping of the enteric nervous system reveals how fetal neurons form during development. The process of neural development in the ENT follows different principal to the development of neurons in the brain.
Viscerofugal neurons inside the gut wall communicate to other neurons outside of the gut, near the spinal cord, to send messages to the brain.
Using mouse models, researchers seeded alpha-synuclein aggregates in gut neurons and discovered the clumps can travel to neurons in the brain.
Scientists are conducting experiments to see if targeting the enteric nervous system with a compound can inhibit the aggregation of alpha-synuclein and slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Inflammation of the colon is associated with alterations in alpha-synuclein expression and phosphorylation in the myenteric plexus of common marmoset monkeys. The findings support the growing body of evidence that inflammation may play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease.
A new study reveals how neurons in the GI tract coordinate activity to propel waste through the digestive system.
A new study reports chronic infections of the upper gastrointestinal tract could be linked to Parkinson's disease. Researchers say alpha synuclein, a Parkinson's linked protein, is released during upper GI infections, inducing an immune response. Findings suggest frequent chronic infections could overwhelm the body's ability to remove the protein, leading to the onset of Parkinson's.
Researchers provide new insight into the organization of nerve cells within the gut that help control its function.
Study reports on surprising link between chronic constipation and the herpes simplex virus.
