The role of vagal and intramural inhibitory reflexes in the regulation of intragastric pressure in the ferret. 1982

P L Andrews, and I N Lawes

1. The step inflation technique combined with nerve section and pharmacological receptor blockade was used to determine the gastric distribution of the vagal inhibitory fibres and their role in the regulation of intragastric pressure in the anaesthetized ferret.2. Under the conditions described the predominant effect of the vagus was inhibitory. The dorsal abdominal vagus mediated more inhibition than the ventral vagal trunk. There was partial overlap in the inhibitory effects of the two trunks but, in contrast to excitatory effects, this overlap was less than complete.3. No evidence was found to indicate that the intramural inhibitory neurones (demonstrated pharmacologically) could be activated by a local distensive stimulus or that local inhibitory reflexes played an independent role in the regulation of intragastric pressure. The vago-vagal inhibitory reflexes play the major (possibly the only) part in the over-all regulation of intragastric pressure.4. After a step gastric inflation (50 ml. in < 3 sec) the time taken for the intragastric pressure to fall to 1/e of the peak pressure was a function of the number of inflations; the time decreased with increased number of inflations. It was apparently unaffected by nerve lesions.5. The intragastric pressure in response to an inflation, besides being a function of the neural reflexes evoked, was also related to the gastric weight and hence the size of the animal.6. The sum of the prevailing intragastric pressure and the response to vagal stimulation (10 Hz, 10 sec) was similar, irrespective of the intragastric fluid volume (10-80 ml.).7. The volume of fluid in the corpus was shown to be a major determinant of the contraction produced in response to vagal stimulation: as the corpus volume increased the corpus contraction decreased but the relaxation that follows the contraction increased. A similar effect was observed with intra-arterial ACh which implies that the response to stimulation was modified directly by the degree of stretch of the smooth muscle cells. Inhibitory effects were not apparent unless the stomach was moderately inflated.8. The relative roles of the vagal reflexes, intramural reflexes and the smooth muscle in the regulation of intragastric pressure are discussed in the light of the above observations.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009130 Muscle, Smooth Unstriated and unstriped muscle, one of the muscles of the internal organs, blood vessels, hair follicles, etc. Contractile elements are elongated, usually spindle-shaped cells with centrally located nuclei. Smooth muscle fibers are bound together into sheets or bundles by reticular fibers and frequently elastic nets are also abundant. (From Stedman, 25th ed) Muscle, Involuntary,Smooth Muscle,Involuntary Muscle,Involuntary Muscles,Muscles, Involuntary,Muscles, Smooth,Smooth Muscles
D009929 Organ Size The measurement of an organ in volume, mass, or heaviness. Organ Volume,Organ Weight,Size, Organ,Weight, Organ
D011312 Pressure A type of stress exerted uniformly in all directions. Its measure is the force exerted per unit area. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Pressures
D012018 Reflex An involuntary movement or exercise of function in a part, excited in response to a stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted to the brain or spinal cord.
D001826 Body Fluids Liquid components of living organisms. Body Fluid,Fluid, Body,Fluids, Body
D002335 Carnivora An order of MAMMALS, usually flesh eaters with appropriate dentition. Suborders include the terrestrial carnivores Fissipedia, and the aquatic carnivores CANIFORMIA.
D005260 Female Females
D005289 Ferrets Semidomesticated variety of European polecat much used for hunting RODENTS and/or RABBITS and as a laboratory animal. It is in the subfamily Mustelinae, family MUSTELIDAE. Domestic Polecat,Domestic Polecats,European Polecat,European Polecats,Ferret,Mustela putorius,Mustela putorius furo,Polecat, Domestic,Polecat, European,Polecats, Domestic,Polecats, European
D006584 Hexamethonium Compounds Compounds containing the hexamethylenebis(trimethylammonium) cation. Members of this group frequently act as antihypertensive agents and selective ganglionic blocking agents. Compounds, Hexamethonium

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