MUC2 and irritable bowel syndrome: Neuronal loss has also been noted for both the myenteric plexus and submucosal plexus in animal models of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced IBD.177,178 Similarly, myenteric neuronal loss accompanied by dysfunctions of motility is a feature of the GI inflammation seen in the Winnie mouse, a genetic model of IBD in which the gene encoding the muc2 mucin protein is mutated leading to severe inflammation in early adulthood.179 By contrast studies in humans or DSS-induced colitis in mice, reported either decreases,180 increases84,181,182 or no change174 in myenteric neuronal numbers.