Intestinal Regeneration. The Bioengineering Approach.

Gastrointestinal (GI) function (motility, secretion, and maintenance of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis) is controlled by three branches of the autonomic nervous system-the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and the enteric nerves. Intestinal secretomotor activity occurs in the absence of extrinsic autonomic contributions and is controlled predominantly by the enteric nervous system (ENS). Hence, the ENS is called the intrinsic innervation of the gut. The ENS assimilates information from local sensory input, muscle, and mucosa and determines the appropriate response of the gut. The ENS is the largest branch of the autonomic nervous system. The ENS is contained within the walls of the GI tract and divided into two ganglionated plexi-. Myenteric/Auerbach plexus between the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle of the gut, Submucosal/Meissner plexus between the mucosal layer and circular smooth muscle of the gut. The ENS is comprised of several classes of functional neurons and enteric glia, similar to the central nervous system (CNS).