Enteric neuroanatomy and smooth muscle activity in the western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Table 1 Total length and diameter, stretch factor, neuronal density, and the total number of neurons of the different gastrointestinal regions

	Total length (l total, cm)	Diameter (d unstretched, cm)	Stretch factor	Neuronal density (1/cm²)		Total number of neurons
	Total length (l total, cm)	Diameter (d unstretched, cm)	Stretch factor	MP	SMP	MP	SMP
Oesophagus	17.3	0.9	13.7	60.578 ± 16.575*	6.067 ± 4.687*	908.690 ± 186.780	91.494 ± 71.922
Prox. stomach	1.5	2.0	4.3	29.480 ± 13.967	17.335 ± 10.453	85.057 ± 35.620	49.857 ± 29.610
Distal stomach	1.5	1.8	1.8	15.133 ± 1.880	7.777 ± 7.338	39.576 ± 4.682*	21.058 ± 21.431
Prox. small bowel	5.5	0.9	5.3	25.128 ± 3.475	394 ± 258^§	119.184 ± 32.058^§	2.613 ± 1.696
Distal small bowel	3.5	0.8	5.0	40.116 ± 11.999	623 ± 350^§	102.846 ± 31.088^§	1.590 ± 975*^§
Prox. colon	1.7	0.7	3.0	43.849 ± 13.073	690 ± 325^§	51.395 ± 10.174*	818 ± 435*^§
Distal colon	2.4	1.0	5.6	27.020 ± 12.386	1.071 ± 358	65.300 ± 24.903*	2.689 ± 948
				*Significantly different from distal stomach	*Significantly different from proximal small bowel ^§significantly different from proximal stomach	*Significantly different from oesophagus ^§significantly different from distal stomach	*Significantly different from oesophagus ^§significantly different from proximal stomach

In the table, average results are shown, while during extrapolating the neuronal density to the total number of neurons for each animal, the total surface area was calculated for the individual animals and therefore deviates from the product of length and circumference

ISSN: 1742-9994