The gut-brain axis: spatial relationship between spinal afferent nerves and 5-HT-containing enterochromaffin cells in mucosa of mouse colon

Abstract

We show an absence of close physical contact between spinal afferent nerves and 5-HT-containing EC cells in mouse colonic mucosa. Similar relative distances were observed between randomized EC cells and spinal afferents compared with actual data. This spatial relationship suggests that substances released from colonic 5-HT-containing EC cells are unlikely to act via synaptic transmission to neighboring spinal afferents that relay sensory information from the gut lumen to the brain.