Morphometric Analysis of Positive Nadh-Diaphorase Myenteric Neurons of the Cyprinus carpio Intestinal Bulb (Linnaeus 1758) (Osteichthyes, Cyprinidae)

Abstract

The enteric nervous system is constituted by the myenteric and submucosos plexus that program and coordinate the function gastrintestinais. Although citations exist on the presence of the myenteric plexus in fish, not very it is known about the subject in those animals. Considering the importance of the myenteric plexus, the objectives of the present work went to location of the myenteric plexus by means of histological sections and the measure of the pericaria profile area (PP) of myenteric neurons in the intestinal bulb of Cyprinus carpio, by means of whole mount preparations submitted to the histochemical method for detection of the nadh-diaphorase activity. The myenteric plexus was located between of the muscular layers constituted by isolated neurons and, also, grouped in ganglion of sparsed distribution. The PP area of 500 neurons was measured being used light microscope and a software of reception and analysis of images. The PP area varied of 28.54 to 426.22 ?m2 with average of 151.33 ?m2 ± 61.14 ?m2. The neurons with the PP area measures included in the interval of resulting values from medium ± standard deviation were classified as of medium size. Those with superior and inferior dimensions to the interval referred were considered of big and small sizes, respectively. The percentages of small, medium and big neurons were 12.6%, 74.5% and 13%, respectively. It was ended that in the intestinal bulb of C. carpio the myenteric plexus is formed by positive nadh-diaphorasi neurons of different dimensions prevailing medium size neurons without the arrangement characteristic ganglionar of superior animals.