Do neurotransmitters involved in fast excitatory neurotransmission directly activate enteric glial cells?
We provide evidence that enteric glial cells respond to fast excitatory neurotransmitters by changes in intracellular Ca(2+). On the basis of our experimental in vitro setting, we show that enteric glia are not only directly responsive to purinergic but also to serotonergic and cholinergic signaling mechanisms.
E. coli bacteraemia led to intestinal vasoconstriction and hypoperfusion. Lazaroid reduced this effect without altering central haemodynamic responses, suggesting that free radicals have a deleterious effect on the intestinal microcirculation during bacteraemia.