What is myenteric plexus?

Myenteric plexus is a network of nerve fibers placed in a layer of muscle tissue that lines the esophagus, stomach and intestine. It is part of the enteric nervous system, the division of the peripheral nervous system, which is responsible for controlling the activities of the digestive tract. This particular structure mediates the contraction of the muscle layer, the key to moving food through the body so that it can be processed by metabolism.

This structure is sometimes considered part of the autonomic nervous system. It works mainly below consciousness and automatically sends signals to the gastrointestinal tract based on the trigger events. It acts autonomous and in accordance with a number of other systems that allow the digestion and metabolism of food. However, the central nervous system can also be involved in the conscious control of the myenteric plexus if necessary.

also known as Auerbach's plexus after the first man who describes this, myenteric plexus innervates the mucosal lining of the digestive tract and is primarily responsiblefor intestinal motility. Movement disorders where the gastrointestinal tract does not take place and relaxes normally, sometimes involving damage to nerve fibers in myenteric plexus. Achalasia is an example of a disorder that may include this structure.

In the network of nerve fibers, which forms the myenteric plexus, there are a number of outlying clusters of nerve ganglia that control individual areas of the intestines. Although they are sometimes considered isolation, all are part of the interconnected system and each has only one myenteric plexus, not many individual structures. Together, nerve fibers and ganglia provide the primary source of intestinal tract innervation and there are more cells in this structure than in the spinal cord.

When patients develop mobility disorders that disrupt eating, digestion and metabolism, a number of screening tests, including imaging studies, can be performed to learn more about the origin of disorders and determine inroom or placement in the intestinal tract, where the muscular lining does not move as it should move. These tests may include assessment to determine whether nerve fibers or ganglia in myenteric plexus have been damaged. These cells can be seen on biopsy lining of the intestinal tract acquired during surgical biopsy and reviewed by a pathologist.