| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Patients with synucleinopathies including multiple system atrophy (MSA) frequently exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms. This study aimed to determine whether enteric neurons in MSA patients are involved in the pathogenic mechanism of MSA. Serial 4 μm-thick slices of the small intestine were prepared using 10%-formalin fixed and paraffin embedded materials from 3 autopsied cases of MSA. A quantitative assessment of cross-sectional areas of enteric neurons having nuclei was performed using the computer software (cellSens ver. 1.6). In myenteric neurons, mean cross-sectional areas of cytoplasm and nuclei were 115.9±4.8 μm2 and 50.0±1.6 μm2, respectively. These areas of cytoplasm and nuclei were significantly smaller in MSA than in age-matched controls (P<0.0001). In submucosal neurons, there was no significant difference in these areas between MSA and control.
Our results suggest atrophic changes in myenteric neurons, which contribute to the gastrointestinal symptoms in MSA patients.
|
