Figure 13.

DSS colitis is associated with enteric neuroinflammation, including neural hypertrophy, glial swelling, and submucosal plexus degeneration. Electron microscopy shows swollen glial end-feet arranged perpendicularly (A, yellow shaded area) to the border of enteric ganglion (A, blue dashed line). B and C show enteric glial morphology in control vs DSS-treated animals. Enteric neurons (D, magenta shaded area) after DSS treatment accumulate lipid droplets (D, arrows; F, asterisks) and mitochondria (E, asterisks) and exhibit a hyperplastic rough ER (E and F, arrow). Number of enteric neurons is unchanged after DSS (G), but their total surface area adjusted to total muscularis area increases significantly and is reversed with L-clodronate injection (H). Average neuron number per myenteric ganglion is unchanged after DSS colitis, whereas number of submucosal neurons decreases significantly (J), and this is reversed with L-clodronate treatment (J). Scatter diagrams show data for morphometry and cell counting, including means and standard deviation; ∗P < .05, ∗∗P < .01, ∗∗∗P < .001.