scholarly journals Enteric neural regulation of slow waves in circular muscle of the canine proximal colon.

1986 ◽  
Vol 377 (1) ◽  
pp. 297-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
K M Sanders ◽  
T K Smith
1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (2) ◽  
pp. G264-G273 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Ward ◽  
K. M. Sanders

Morphological and electrophysiological experiments were performed to characterize the pacemaker areas of the circular muscle in the canine proximal colon. Morphological studies showed interstitial cells of Cajal lining the submucosal surface of the circular layer and the septal structures that separate the circular layer into bundles. Electrical measurements suggested that slow waves may propagate into the thickness of the circular muscle in a regenerative manner along the surface of these septa. Removal of the submucosal pacemaker region blocked generation of slow waves in nonseptal regions of the circular muscle, but slow-wave activity continued in the circular muscle near septa. These data suggest that slow-wave pacemaker activity is not limited to a two-dimensional surface at the submucosal surface but extends into the interior of the circular layer along septal invaginations. Experiments were also performed to determine the dominance of pacemaker activity (i.e., septal vs. submucosal), and examples were found in which both areas appeared to initiate slow waves in intact muscles. Other studies showed that slow waves could propagate across septa, suggesting some form of electrical coupling between circular muscle bundles. This study provides a more complete view of the structure and function of pacemaker areas in the canine proximal colon.


1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (3) ◽  
pp. G484-G491 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Sabourin ◽  
Y. J. Kingma ◽  
K. L. Bowes

Electrical and mechanical interactions between the two smooth muscle layers of canine colon have been studied using a dual sucrose gap apparatus. Muscle samples were dissected into an L-shape, with one leg cut in the circular direction and the other cut in the longitudinal direction. Longitudinal muscle was removed from the circular leg and circular muscle was removed from the longitudinal leg. The bend of the L contained both layers. The activity of the two layers was studied simultaneously under basal conditions, after stimulation by neostigmine and carbachol, and in the presence of tetrodotoxin. Interactions were more common after stimulation and were marked by modification of one layer's mechanical and electrical activity during increased activity in the other layer. Two patterns were commonly observed. First, during a burst of membrane potential oscillations and spike potentials in the longitudinal layer, slow waves in the circular layer developed spike potentials and some slow waves were also prolonged. Second, during a slow-wave cycle in the circular layer, the amplitude of membrane potential oscillations in the longitudinal layer was increased with an associated increase in the incidence of spike potentials. These interactions were associated with contractions of increased strength, which were similar in both layers. All interactions continued after nerve-conduction blockade by tetrodotoxin.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (6) ◽  
pp. C828-C834 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Smith ◽  
J. B. Reed ◽  
K. M. Sanders

The effects of membrane potential on the waveforms and propagation of slow waves were tested using circular muscles of the canine colon. Studies were conducted with intracellular recording techniques on cross-sectional strips of canine proximal colon. Circular muscle cells near the submucosa generated slow waves that decayed in amplitude as they spread through the circular layer. The membrane potentials of cells were less negative as a function of distance from the submucosal border. Cells near the submucosa were depolarized with elevated external K+ and electrical pulses using the partitioned chamber technique. The waveforms of depolarized submucosal cells were compared with events recorded from cells in the bulk of the circular layer. The waveform changes caused by experimental depolarization were different from the changes in waveform that occur during propagation, suggesting the latter are due to a different mechanism than depolarization. The effects of the membrane potential on syncytial input resistance and length constant were also evaluated. The results of these studies are consistent with the hypothesis that slow-wave propagation across the circular layer in canine proximal colon occurs passively.


Physiology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 176-181
Author(s):  
KM Sanders

In the proximal colon, two discrete pacemaker populations exist: one group of cells generates the 6-cycle/min rhythm known as slow waves;other cells generate a 17-cycle/min rhythm termed myenteric potential oscillations. Summation of these events in the circular muscle provides the signal for escitation-contraction coupling. This article describes the origin and integration of pacemaker activities in the colon.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (3) ◽  
pp. C290-C299 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Smith ◽  
J. B. Reed ◽  
K. M. Sanders

Experiments were performed to determine the source of the 20 cycles/min electrical oscillation commonly seen in colonic electrical records, the influence of the 20 cycles/min rhythm on the circular and longitudinal muscle layers, and the interactions between the 20 cycles/min rhythm and slow waves in circular muscle cells. Cross-sectional muscle preparations of the canine proximal colon were used to allow impalement of cells at any point through the thickness of the muscularis. Intracellular recordings from circular muscle cells clearly showed the two characteristic pacemaker frequencies in the colon (6 cycles/min slow waves; 20 cycles/min oscillations). The 20 cycles/min oscillations were recorded from longitudinal and circular muscle cells. Their amplitudes were greatest at the myenteric border. In the longitudinal layer the 20 cycles/min events initiated action potentials; in circular muscle the 20 cycles/min events summed with slow waves. Simultaneous recordings from circular and longitudinal cells across the myenteric border demonstrated that events in the two layers were usually in phase, suggesting that the two layers are electrically coupled and are paced by a common pacemaker. The amplitude of the 20 cycles/min events decayed with distance from the myenteric border in both circular and longitudinal muscles. The data demonstrate that two discrete populations of pacemaker cells generate the spontaneous electrical activity in the colon. Both events appear to passively spread through the circular muscle. It is the summation of these events that appears to serve as the signal for excitation-contraction coupling in circular muscle.


1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (2) ◽  
pp. G298-G307 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. Keef ◽  
S. M. Ward ◽  
R. J. Stevens ◽  
B. W. Frey ◽  
K. M. Sanders

Effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and substance P on the electrical and mechanical activities of the circular muscle layer of the canine proximal colon were studied. Because this muscle layer is bordered by two different pacemaker regions, responses from segments containing either a single pacemaker region or no pacemaker region were compared with responses of the complete muscle layer. Concentration-response relationships for ACh and substance P were similar between the various segments, suggesting that receptors for these agonists are expressed throughout the layer. The dominant contractile pattern induced by ACh and substance P in each segment was a 1- to 3-cycle/min rhythm. In a like manner, these agonists also elicited an electrical pattern in which a long-duration slow wave occurred one to three times per minute between short-duration slow waves. Low concentrations of nifedipine (0.01 microM) selectively antagonized the 1- to 3-cycle/min rhythm. In circular muscles with no pacemaker region, ACh (1 microM) caused depolarization, induced oscillations in membrane potential averaging 24 +/- 5 mV in amplitude and 2.9 +/- 0.9 cycles/min in frequency, and generated rhythmic contractions at the same frequency. This "interior" circular muscle was functionally innervated by cholinergic excitatory nerves. Exposure to ACh (1 microM) did not alter the conduction of slow waves through the thickness of the circular layer. In summary, the excitatory neurotransmitters, ACh and substance P, induce a dominant electrical and contractile rhythm throughout the circular muscle layer that is different from the spontaneous rhythms produced at either the myenteric or submucosal border.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (2) ◽  
pp. C215-C224 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Smith ◽  
J. B. Reed ◽  
K. M. Sanders

Experiments to determine the site of slow-wave origin and the mechanism of propagation were performed on muscles of the canine proximal colon. Cells along the submucosal border of the circular layer had resting membrane potentials (RMP) averaging -78 mV, and slow waves, 40 mV in amplitude. The RMP of cells through the thickness of the circular layer decreased exponentially with distance from the submucosal border, such that RMPs of circular cells at the myenteric border were only -43 mV. Slow waves decreased in amplitude through the thickness such that slow waves could not be detected adjacent to the myenteric border. When a thin strip of muscle along the submucosal border was removed, slow waves were not recorded from the bulk of the circular layer and could not be evoked by acetylcholine. Slow waves were still present in the excised strip. Experiments to determine the rate of slow-wave propagation were also performed. Two cells were impaled, one at the submucosal surface, and another at some distance through the circular layer. Slow waves occurred nearly simultaneously at both sites. What latency was observed could be explained on the basis of electrotonic conduction. The results support the hypothesis that in the canine proximal colon slow waves are generated at the extreme submucosal surface of the circular layer. The bulk of the circular layer does not possess either pacemaker or regenerative mechanisms, and slow waves propagate passively toward the myenteric border. The cable properties of the circular muscle syncytium furnish a barrier to invasion of the longitudinal layer by the slow wave event.


1980 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. BUENO ◽  
J. FIORAMONTI ◽  
E. GEUX ◽  
Y. RAISSIGUIER

The electrical activity of the gastrointestinal tract and gallbladder was recorded in four sheep fed a Mg-deficient diet during 10 to 15 days. The mitigating effect of intravenous infusions of MgCl2 was tested at the end of the experimental period in animals presenting hypomagnesemia. Motility of the reticulo-rumen remained unchanged in Mg-deficient sheep except that there was no postprandial increased frequency of contractions. By contrast, the contractions of gallbladder, cecum and proximal colon were reduced in both amplitude and frequency. The amplitude but not the frequency of the antro-duodenal slow-waves was reduced. The amplitude of the regular spiking activity of the small intestine was reduced as well as the number of complexes produced per day. The activity of the spiral colon was correlated to the blood magnesium concentrations but Mg infusion was unable to restore immediately the motor profile of the rest of the gut to its intitial level. This was done within 2–3 days by changes in the diet in three of the four animals. It is concluded that the motility of the whole digestive tract, including the reticulo-rumen, is modified on a Mg-deficient diet and that hypomagnesemia, involved in the atony of the spiral colon, is only one of the factors responsible for the hypomotility.


1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (2) ◽  
pp. G306-G313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold G. Preiksaitis ◽  
Nicholas E. Diamant

A myogenic control system (MCS) is a fundamental determinant of peristalsis in the stomach, small bowel, and colon. In the esophagus, attention has focused on neuronal control, the potential for a MCS receiving less attention. The myogenic properties of the cat esophagus were studied in vitro with and without nerves blocked by 1 μM TTX. Muscle contraction was recorded, while electrical activity was monitored by suction electrodes. Spontaneous, nonperistaltic, electrical, and mechanical activity was seen in the longitudinal muscle and persisted after TTX. Spontaneous circular muscle activity was minimal, and peristalsis was not observed without pharmacological activation. Direct electrical stimulation (ES) in the presence of bethanechol or tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) produced slow-wave oscillations and spike potentials accompanying smooth muscle contraction that progressed along the esophagus. Increased concentrations of either drug in the presence of TTX produced slow waves and spike discharges, accompanied by peristalsis in 5 of 8 TEA- and 2 of 11 bethanechol-stimulated preparations without ES. Depolarization of the muscle by increasing K+ concentration also produced slow waves but no peristalsis. We conclude that the MCS in the esophagus requires specific activation and is manifest by slow-wave oscillations of the membrane potential, which appear to be necessary, but are not sufficient for myogenic peristalsis. In vivo, additional control mechanisms are likely supplied by nerves.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (2) ◽  
pp. G258-G263 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Sanders ◽  
R. Stevens ◽  
E. Burke ◽  
S. W. Ward

Colonic slow waves originate from pacemaker cells along the submucosal surface of the circular layer in the dog proximal colon. These events propagate in a nonregenerative manner into the bulk of the circular layer. Conduction velocities consistent with an active mechanism for slow-wave propagation in the longitudinal and circumferential axes of the colon have been reported. Experiments were performed using intracellular recording techniques on canine colonic muscles to determine the regenerative pathway for slow-wave propagation. In a thin band of muscle adjacent to the submucosal border of the circular layer, slow-wave amplitude was independent of distance from a pacing source, and events propagated at a rate of approximately 17 mm/s in the long axis of the circular fibers and 6 mm/s in the transverse axis of the circular fibers. These findings suggest that slow waves propagate in a regenerative manner in this region. Slow waves decayed as they conducted through regions from which the pacemaker cells had been removed with space constants of a few millimeters. Thus the integrity of the thin pacemaker region along submucosal surface is critical for propagation of slow waves and the organization of motility into segmental contractions.


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