The influence of drug-resistant ulcerative colitis on the number of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide-like immunoreactive (CART-LI) mucosal nerve fibres of the descending colon in children

Introduction: Structures of the enteric nervous system (ENS) are able to change their functional or chemical phenotype as a result of adaptive responses to different physiological and pathological stimuli. One such factor, which changes the chemical coding of the ENS, is ulcerative colitis (UC). On the other hand the knowledge about the presence and functions of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide as a neuromediator in the ENS is very limited, especially during pathological states.
Aim: Investigation of the changes in the number of CART-like immunoreactive (CART-LI) mucosal nerve fibres during drug-resistant ulcerative colitis in children.
Material and methods: The distribution pattern of CART-LI mucosal nerves was studied in bioptates from the descending colon using the immunofluorescence technique in 5 patients with UC (UC group) and 5 children (control – C group) hospitalized because of bleeding from lower sections of the gastrointestinal tract. In these patients colitis was excluded during endoscopic and histopathological examinations. Average age of patients was 14.2 years in the UC group and 11.4 years in the C group.
Results: A significant increase in the number of CART-LI mucosal nerve fibres was found in patients with UC (5.94 ±0.53 per observation field) in comparison to the control group (2.11 ±0.58)
Conclusions: Ulcerative colitis caused a visible increase in the number of CART-positive nerve fibres within the mucosal layer of the descending colon, which suggests the participation of this neuropeptide in pathological processes within the human GI tract.