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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/15261
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dc.contributor.advisorRatcliffe, Elyanneen_US
dc.contributor.advisorMurphy, Kathrynen_US
dc.contributor.advisorJane Foster, Waliul Khanen_US
dc.contributor.authorMungovan, Kal A.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-18T21:13:23Z-
dc.date.created2013-09-05en_US
dc.date.issued2013-10en_US
dc.identifier.otheropendissertations/8117en_US
dc.identifier.other9211en_US
dc.identifier.other4555649en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11375/15261-
dc.description.abstract<p>At birth the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is rapidly colonized by microbial organisms which exhibit considerable fluctuations in composition across the first two years of life. During this period, the enteric nervous system (ENS) continues to undergo significant structural and functional changes. In the present study, we investigated whether exposure to intestinal microbiota influences the postnatal development of the ENS. We focused our investigations on dopaminergic neurons as they are among the latest populations of neurons to differentiate during enteric development. The myenteric plexus of specific pathogen-free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) mice were examined in whole-mount preparations of the small and large intestine at three time-points: postnatal day 1 (P1), P7, and P28. The density of dopaminergic neurons did not differ significantly between SPF and GF mice in any region of the intestine examined at P1. However, at P7, GF mice had significantly fewer myenteric dopaminergic neurons in the ileum than did SPF mice, and this difference was maintained at P28.</p> <p>The proportion of enteric dopaminergic neurons has been shown to be dependent upon the availability of serotonin. In the GI tract, serotonin can be of neuronal or enterochromaffin (EC) cell origin. We therefore tested the hypothesis that reductions in myenteric dopaminergic neuron densities in the ileum of GF mice were secondary to changes in enteric serotonergic neuron densities or EC cell frequencies. Neither serotonergic neurons nor EC cell numbers were affected by GF status during the postnatal period. The reduction in dopaminergic neurons seen in GF mice must therefore be attributable to a mechanism that has yet to be determined.</p> <p>These findings are consistent with the notion that enteric microbiota can influence the development of late-born neuronal populations. The reduced proportion of dopaminergic neurons in the ileum of GF mice at P7 and P28 may contribute to the previously described altered motility patterns in postnatal GF mice.</p>en_US
dc.subjectmicrobiotaen_US
dc.subjectenteric nervous systemen_US
dc.subjectenterochromaffin cellsen_US
dc.subjectdopamineen_US
dc.subjectserotoninen_US
dc.subjectENSen_US
dc.subjectDigestive, Oral, and Skin Physiologyen_US
dc.subjectDigestive, Oral, and Skin Physiologyen_US
dc.titleInfluence of intestinal microbiota on the postnatal development of enterochromaffin cells and the enteric nervous systemen_US
dc.typethesisen_US
dc.contributor.departmentNeuroscienceen_US
dc.date.embargo2014-09-01-
dc.description.degreeMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
dc.date.embargoset2014-09-01en_US
Appears in Collections:Open Access Dissertations and Theses

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