Since Crohn’s disease is an autoimmune disease it can attack any system in the body including the enteric nervous system. Crohn’s disease causes inflammatory bowel syndrome which can cause excessive diarrhea and tissue injury due to gut inflammation. These symptoms are caused by prolonged hyperexcitability of enteric neurons caused by Crohn’s disease. When the gut is inflamed, there is breakdown of intestinal barrier function, abnormal secretion, changes in the patterns of motility, and visceral sensation, which contribute to symptoms like diarrhea, cramping, and pain. Enteric ganglia are what control all functions of the stomach and GI tract. Enteric ganglia are organized into two major ganglionated plexuses: the myenteric and submucosal plexus. They contain a variety of functionally distinct neurons, including primary afferent neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons, synaptically linked to each other in microcircuits. Enteric neurons are known to control virtually all GI functions, including motility, secretion, blood flow, mucosal growth and aspects of the immune system. Interstitial Cells of Cajal play a major role in GI Tract function as pacemakers of smooth muscle contraction as well as stimulation of smooth muscle. This is a contributing factor to the dysmotility caused by Crohn’s disease. Secretomotor neurons also cause dysmotility by becoming hyperactive, leading to the impairment of the digestive organs. The increased activity of secretomotor neurons causes the increase in the secretion of Cl- ions, which in turn causes decreased absorption of sodium (hence the low levels of sodium ions in the blood tests of Crohn’s Disease patients).
Recent comments