Are intestinal endocrine cells affected in Hirschsprung's disease? An immunohistochemical study with anti-Leu 7 monoclonal antibody.

Specimens from 15 cases of Hirschsprung's disease and 22 control cases of normal guts were studied by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method with with anti-Leu 7 (Leu 7) monoclonal antibody (MAb). In the normal human gut, some satellite cells in the enteric plexuses and a few nerve fibers and ganglion cells in the intestinal wall were stained with Leu 7 MAb, while endocrine cells in the intestinal mucosa showed consistent and intense cytoplasmic Leu 7 positivity. In Hirschsprung's disease, the number of Leu 7-positive endocrine cells was significantly low. The mean value of the number of Leu 7-positive endocrine cells per one microscopic field (X300 magnification) was 4.6 +/- 0.6 (+/- SE) in controls and 0.7 +/- 0.3 (+/- SE) in Hirschsprung's disease (P less than .001 by Student's t test). Our findings suggest that the development of endocrine cells in the intestinal mucosa may be closely related to the development of ganglion cells in the enteric plexuses, and that the anti-Leu 7 MAb may be useful for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease when biopsy specimens are limited to the mucosa only.