P2X7 receptor antagonist recovers ileum myenteric neurons after experimental ulcerative colitis

Figure 10 Cell body profile areas of neurons immunoreactive in neurons of the rat ileum myenteric plexus in the sham, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and brilliant blue G groups. A: Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS); B: Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT); C: HuC/D. The cell perikaryal profile areas (µm²) of 100 neurons from each animal were obtained in the sham (n = 5), 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) (n = 5) and Brilliant blue G (BBG) groups (n = 5). A total of 500 cell profile areas were analyzed for each group. Data were compared using analysis of variance and Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons as appropriate. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. ^aP < 0.05, comparing the TNBS group and sham group; ^bP < 0.05, comparing the BBG group and TNBS group. The data are expressed as mean ± SE. nNOS: Neuronal nitric oxide synthase; ChAT: Choline acetyltransferase; TNBS: 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid; BBG: Brilliant blue G.