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The enteric nervous system is not essential for the propulsion of gut contents in fetal mice
  1. R B Anderson1,
  2. H Enomoto2,
  3. J C Bornstein3,
  4. H M Young4
  1. 1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Australia
  2. 2RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
  3. 3Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne, Australia
  4. 4Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Australia
  1. Correspondence to:
    Dr H M Young
    Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Australia; h.youngunimelb.edu.au

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    Hirschsprung’s disease is a congenital disorder in which enteric neurones are absent from variable lengths of the terminal region of the bowel. The condition presents as failure to pass meconium, severe constipation, colonic distension, and sometimes enterocolitis. Treatment for Hirschsprung’s disease requires the surgical removal of the aganglionic segment. Mutant mice lacking enteric neurones in all or a major part of the gastrointestinal tract die soon after birth.1 Thus, after birth, the enteric nervous system is crucial for normal intestinal motility in both mice and humans.

    During fetal development, amniotic fluid is swallowed, while epithelial cells, mucous, and bile are discharged into the intestine, and progress in an anal direction.2 Little is known about the mechanisms controlling gastrointestinal motility in fetal life. Some infants with aganglionosis extending into the ileum present with features of meconium ileus, …

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