Abstract
In the recent literature it has been noted that peptidergic nerves may play an important role in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS). Specimens from 20 patients with HPS were examined by immunohistochemistry with regard to the distribution of nerve cells and nerve fibers containing enkephalin (ENK), substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). Three subpopulations of peptides containing nerve cells and fibers were fairly numerous in the control specimens, but in the patients with HPS the density of the nerve fibers was markedly reduced and occasionally absent, especially the ENK- and VIP-containing fibers. In the myenteric plexus there was neither a reduction of nerve cell bodies nor of fibers. Our findings suggest that abnormalities of peptide-containing nerve fibers or impairment of neuronal function might results in HPS.
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Shen, Zx., She, Yx., Wang, Wc. et al. Immunohistochemical study of peptidergic nerves in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. Pediatr Surg Int 5, 110–113 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00178228
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00178228