Effects of Supplementation with Ascorbic Acid for a Period of 120 days on the Myosin-V and NADPHd Positive Myenteric Neurons of the Ileum of Rats

Summary We investigated the effect of ascorbic acid (AA) supplementation on the NADPH‐diaphorase (NADPHd) and myosin‐V myenteric neurons in the ileum of rats, after 4 months of treatment. Two groups were compared, i.e. controls rats (C) and AA‐treated rats (CA). Myosin‐V immunohistochemistry and NADPHd histochemistry were employed. We investigated the areas of 500 cell bodies of myosin‐V neurons and of 500 NADPHd stained neurons from all groups. The quantitative analysis was performed using an area of 8.96 mm2 from each ileum. There was an increase of 21.9% in the myosin‐V immunoreactive myenteric neurons (P > 0.05) and of 22.5% in the NADPHd in group CA when compared with C (P