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©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 21, 2016; 22(19): 4662-4672
Published online May 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i19.4662
Published online May 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i19.4662
Altered tryptophan hydroxylase 2 expression in enteric serotonergic nerves in Hirschsprung’s-associated enterocolitis
David Coyle, John Gillick, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, Dublin 1, Ireland
David Coyle, Justin M Murphy, Brian Doyle, Anne Marie O’Donnell, Prem Puri, National Children’s Research Centre, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Dublin 12, Ireland
Author contributions: Coyle D performed the experimental procedures and is the primary author of the final manuscript; Murphy JM and Doyle B carried out experimental procedures; O’Donnell AM, Gillick J and Puri P designed the study and co-authored and revised the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Ethical approval was granted by the Institutional Review Boards of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin (GEN 292.12) and Temple Street Children’s University Hospital (13.003) prior to commencement of patient enrolment and specimen collection.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the parents/legal guardians of all children enrolled in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: Data pertaining to experimental work and population characteristics is available from prem.puri@ncrc.ie.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Prem Puri, Professor, MS, FRCS, FRCS (Ed), FACS, FAAP (Hon.), DSc (Hon.), National Children’s Research Centre, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin Rd., Dublin 12, Ireland. prem.puri@ucd.ie
Telephone: +353-1-4096420 Fax: +353-1-4550201
Received: November 25, 2015
Peer-review started: December 1, 2015
First decision: December 31, 2015
Revised: January 11, 2016
Accepted: January 17, 2016
Article in press: January 18, 2016
Published online: May 21, 2016
Peer-review started: December 1, 2015
First decision: December 31, 2015
Revised: January 11, 2016
Accepted: January 17, 2016
Article in press: January 18, 2016
Published online: May 21, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Despite optimal surgery, children with a history of Hirschsprung’s disease (HSCR) complicated by Hirschsprung’s-associated enterocolitis (HAEC) are at higher risk of long-term colonic dysfunction. Tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (TPH2) is a surrogate marker for neuronal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). We hypothesized that expression of TPH2 is altered in the colon of children with HAEC. We found the density of serotonergic nerves to be differentially reduced in the ganglionic colon of children with HSCR and HAEC compared to those without HAEC compared to controls, although expression is normalized in those with diverting colostomy. Abnormal neuronal 5-HT expression may contribute to post-operative colonic dysfunction in HSCR.