Key studies published in 2019 shed new light on how complex motor patterns emerge from the functional organization of circuits in the enteric nervous system and, in turn, how extrinsic afferent neurons and common commensal microorganisms interface with these circuits to modulate intestinal motility.
Key advances
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Regional differences in colonic motor patterns might emerge from regional differences in the composition of enteric ganglia and the connectivity of component neurons.4
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Extrinsic spinal afferent neurons that innervate the gut modulate the activity of myenteric neurons and stimulate gut contractions via a parasympathetic spinal circuit.5
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The probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG alters enteric nervous system function and accelerates gut transit in an adhesion-dependent and redox-dependent manner.9
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The author acknowledges funding support from the National Institutes of Health (K08DK110532).
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Rao, M. An increasingly complex view of intestinal motility. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 17, 72–73 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0249-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0249-0
