Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2023; 29(18): 2704-2716
Published online May 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i18.2704
Key elements determining the intestinal region-specific environment of enteric neurons in type 1 diabetes
Mária Bagyánszki, Nikolett Bódi
Mária Bagyánszki, Nikolett Bódi, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged H-6726, Hungary
Author contributions: Bagyánszki M and Bódi N wrote the original draft, they also wrote the review and editing, performed the visualization; all the authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by Hungarian NKFIH Fund Project (N.B.), No. FK131789; János Bolyai Research Scholarship of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (N.B.); and New National Excellence Program of The Ministry for Innovation and Technology from The Source of The National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (N.B.); No. ÚNKP-22-5.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mária Bagyánszki, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Közép Fasor 52, Szeged H-6726, Hungary. bmarcsi@bio.u-szeged.hu
Received: December 15, 2022
Peer-review started: December 15, 2022
First decision: March 15, 2023
Revised: March 28, 2023
Accepted: April 17, 2023
Article in press: April 17, 2023
Published online: May 14, 2023
Processing time: 146 Days and 10.5 Hours
Abstract

Diabetes, as a metabolic disorder, is accompanied with several gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, like abdominal pain, gastroparesis, diarrhoea or constipation. Serious and complex enteric nervous system damage is confirmed in the background of these diabetic motility complaints. The anatomical length of the GI tract, as well as genetic, developmental, structural and functional differences between its segments contribute to the distinct, intestinal region-specific effects of hyperglycemia. These observations support and highlight the importance of a regional approach in diabetes-related enteric neuropathy. Intestinal large and microvessels are essential for the blood supply of enteric ganglia. Bidirectional morpho-functional linkage exists between enteric neurons and enteroglia, however, there is also a reciprocal communication between enteric neurons and immune cells on which intestinal microbial composition has crucial influence. From this point of view, it is more appropriate to say that enteric neurons partake in multidirectional communication and interact with these key players of the intestinal wall. These interplays may differ from segment to segment, thus, the microenvironment of enteric neurons could be considered strictly regional. The goal of this review is to summarize the main tissue components and molecular factors, such as enteric glia cells, interstitial cells of Cajal, gut vasculature, intestinal epithelium, gut microbiota, immune cells, enteroendocrine cells, pro-oxidants, antioxidant molecules and extracellular matrix, which create and determine a gut region-dependent neuronal environment in diabetes.

Keywords: Enteric neurons; Neuronal environment; Gut region specificity; Type 1 diabetes, Hyperglycemia; Microbiota-gut interactions

Core Tip: Diabetes-related intestinal motility disturbances result from multifactorial damage to the enteric nervous system. However, the diversity of the neuronal environment in different gut segments basically determines the regionality of diabetic enteric neuropathy. Therefore, in this review, we highlight the role of enteric glial cells, gut circulation, intestinal epithelium, gut microbiota, immune and enteroendocrine cells, pro-oxidants, antioxidant defence and extracellular matrix, which have great impact on the formation and maintenance of a region-specific enteric neuronal environment in diabetes.