Patterns of Gastrointestinal Hormone Distribution After Small-Bowel Transplantation

Abstract

Small-bowel transplantation causes a severe disturbance of the integrity and physiologic function of the gut. It is therefore of great interest to investigate how orthotopic and heterotopic transplantation of the small bowel changes the distribution patterns of gastrointestinal (GI) hormone-producing cells, particularly if one considers that the gut has been called the largest endocrine organ of the body (Thompson and Marx 1984). The aim of our studies is to find out how the donor and recipient small bowel react to altered neural and luminal stimuli after heterotopic transplantation. Because the heterotopically transplanted small bowel is shunted off from intestinal passage and is completely deprived of neural and luminal stimuli, GI hormone distribution in the graft’s mucosa and circular muscle layer might be altered. Furthermore, we shall attempt to investigate whether the heterotopic graft acts as a hormonal organ after having been brought into the orthotopic position and linked up with normal physiologic intestinal passage. In so doing, we shall attempt to observe how heterotopic small-bowel transplantation changes the distribution of GI hormone- producing cells and whether or not orthotopic small-bowel transplantation leads to normal function and distribution of GI hormone-producing cells.