OBJECTIVETo investigate the distribution patterns of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and synaptophysin (SYN) during the development of human fetal stomach.

METHODSSixteen specimens of human fetal (gestational age 2 to 4 months) gastric tissues were examined with immunohistochemistry for detecting the distribution of NSE and SYN expressions in the gastric walls.

RESULTSDuring the second to fourth gestational months, NSE was strongly expressed in the nerve cells and nerve fibers of the myenteric nerve plexus of human fetal stomach. As the gestational age increased, the numbers of NSE positive cells and fibers increased gradually in the gastric submucosa, but NSE was negative in the gastric mucosa. At the second gestational month, SYN expression was negative in the mucosa but positive in the myenteric nerve plexus; during the third to fourth months, positive SYN expression was found in the mucosa, submucosa and myenteric nerve plexus of the embryonic gastric walls and its expression intensity increased with the gestational age.

CONCLUSIONSYN and NSE are both involved in the regulation of the nervous system in the gastric wall but their expressions and distributions follow different patterns during the development of human fetal stomach.