INVESTIGATING DYSMOTILITY AND THE EXPANSION OF GLIAL CELLS AND INTERSTITIAL CELLS OF CAJAL IN CROHN’S DISEASE STRICTURES USING A NOVEL SURGICAL MOUSE MODEL

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect the entire digestive tract. One of the most significant complications of CD is intestinal stricture formation, which may cause bowel obstruction and dysmotility. Nerve hyperplasia has also been identified as a prominent feature of CD, but the effect of these changes in the enteric nervous system (ENS) is still unclear, especially in the context of strictures. To understand how strictures disrupt gut motility, we utilized a novel surgical mouse model of intestinal strictures to study changes in the ENS, providing insight on the role of the ENS in intestinal fibrosis.