A, absence of ICC-MY adjacent to the site of anastomosis (0–0.5 cm). Previous studies have shown that this reduction in ICC-MY results from actual loss of ICC and not just reduced expression of Kit (Yanagida et al. 2004). B, very faint Kit-immunoreactivity in the severely disrupted ICC-MY network, 1 cm from the site of anastomosis. C, ICC-MY at 3 cm were disrupted, but the degree of Kit labelling was improved. At 5 cm from the anastomosis site (D), ICC-MY were similar in appearance to the cells observed in sham operated animals (E). E, scale bar represents 50 μm, and applies to A–E.