Histochemical evidence of the increased expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-dependent diaphorase in neurons of the myenteric plexus after acute spinal cord injury in adult rats

The expression of nitric oxide synthase in neurons of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) after experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) was assessed in adult rats contused at T8. One day and 10 weeks after injury, specimens along the GIT were studied for NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry. A significant increase in the number of positive cell bodies and fibers in the myenteric plexus were observed 1 day after SCI, as compared to specimens from control and chronically injured rats, with the exception of the colon, which showed unchanged or decreased number of positive neurons in the acute and chronic stages, respectively. Positive neurons in the submucous plexus remained unchanged, excepting an increase in the colon after acute SCI, and a decrease in the duodenum in chronically injured rats. The altered nitric oxide neurotransmission in the GIT may be relevant to its reduced motility after SCI.