Abstract：
Old age is associated with a higher incidence of lower bowel conditions such as constipation. Recent evidence suggest that colonic motility may be influenced by enteric glial cells (EGCs). Little is known about the effect of aging on the subpopulation of EGCs in the human colon. We assessed and compared the pattern of distribution of EGCs in adult and elderly human colon. Human descending colon were obtained from 23 cancer patients comprising of adults (23-63 years; 6 male, 7 female) and elderly (66-81 year; 6 male, 4 female). Specimens were serially-sectioned and immunolabeled with anti-Sox-10, anti-S100 and anti-GFAP for morphometric analysis. Standardized procedures were utilized to ensure unbiased counting and densitometric evaluation of EGCs. The number of Sox-10 immunoreactive (IR) EGCs were unaltered with age in both the myenteric plexus (MP) (respectively, in adult and elderly patients, 1939 ± 82 and 1760 ± 44/mm length; p > .05) and submucosal plexus; there were no apparent differences between adult males and females. The density of S100-IR EGCs declined among the elderly in the circular muscle and within the MP per ganglionic area. In the adult colon, there were more S100-IR EGCs distributed in the circular muscle per unit area than the Taenia coli. There was little or no GFAP-IR EGCs in both adult and elderly colon. We concluded that aging of the human descending colon does not result in a loss of Sox-10-IR EGCs in the MP and SMP but reduces S100-IR EGCs density within the musculature. This alteration in myenteric EGCs density with age may contribute to colonic dysfunction.
摘要：
老年与较高的下肠疾病如便秘的发生率相关。最近的证据表明结肠运动可能受到肠胶质细胞（EGC）的影响。关于衰老对人结肠中EGC亚群的影响知之甚少。我们评估并比较了成年人和老年人结肠中EGC的分布规律。从23名成年人（23-63岁；6名男性，7名女性）和老年人（66-81岁；6名男性，4女）。将样品连续切片并用抗-Sox-10、抗-S100和抗-GFAP免疫标记以进行形态测定分析。使用标准化程序来确保EGC的无偏计数和光密度评估。在两个肌间神经丛（MP）中，Sox-10免疫反应性（IR）EGC的数量均未随年龄变化（分别，在成人和老年患者中，1939±82和1760±44/mm长度；p>.05）和粘膜下神经丛；成年男性和女性之间没有明显差异。老年人在环肌和每个神经节区域MP内的S100-IREGC密度下降。在成人结肠，在单位面积的环形肌肉中分布的S100-IREGC比在足带菌中更多。成人和老年人结肠中很少或没有GFAP-IREGC。我们得出的结论是，人降结肠的衰老不会导致MP和SMP中Sox-10-IREGC的丢失，但会降低肌肉组织中S100-IREGC的密度。随着年龄的增长，肌间EGC密度的这种变化可能导致结肠功能障碍。
