Endings of the vagus nerve fibers in the mammalian heart

1927 ◽  
Vol 23 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 622-623
Author(s):  
B. I. Lavrent'ev

In 1893, Prof. V.V. Nikolaev, having cut vagus nerves of a frog, saw under a microscope degeneration of so-called spiral fibers and pericellular apparatuses on nerve cells of intracardiac nodes. Later these observations were thoroughly verified by Prof. D.V. Polumordvinov and fully confirmed by him. I had a chance to look through amazing by technique preparations of the late Prof. Polumordvinov, obtained by methylene blue method, on which decay of pericellular apparatuses in cardiac ganglia of a frog was absolutely clearly visible. D. V-ch, who died untimely in 1919, unfortunately, did not have time to publish in detail his important study; the manuscript and drawings of his work also remained undiscovered.

1949 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1005-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.I. Grossman
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Shulgach ◽  
Dylan W. Beam ◽  
Ameya C. Nanivadekar ◽  
Derek M. Miller ◽  
Stephanie Fulton ◽  
...  

AbstractDysfunction and diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are a major driver of medical care. The vagus nerve innervates and controls multiple organs of the GI tract and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) could provide a means for affecting GI function and treating disease. However, the vagus nerve also innervates many other organs throughout the body, and off-target effects of VNS could cause major side effects such as changes in blood pressure. In this study, we aimed to achieve selective stimulation of populations of vagal afferents using a multi-contact cuff electrode wrapped around the abdominal trunks of the vagus nerve. Four-contact nerve cuff electrodes were implanted around the dorsal (N = 3) or ventral (N = 3) abdominal vagus nerve in six ferrets, and the response to stimulation was measured via a 32-channel microelectrode array (MEA) inserted into the left or right nodose ganglion. Selectivity was characterized by the ability to evoke responses in MEA channels through one bipolar pair of cuff contacts but not through the other bipolar pair. We demonstrated that it was possible to selectively activate subpopulations of vagal neurons using abdominal VNS. Additionally, we quantified the conduction velocity of evoked responses to determine what types of nerve fibers (i.e., Aδ vs. C) responded to stimulation. We also quantified the spatial organization of evoked responses in the nodose MEA to determine if there is somatotopic organization of the neurons in that ganglion. Finally, we demonstrated in a separate set of three ferrets that stimulation of the abdominal vagus via a four-contact cuff could selectively alter gastric myoelectric activity, suggesting that abdominal VNS can potentially be used to control GI function.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (4) ◽  
pp. H997-H1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. Seabrook ◽  
L. A. Fieber ◽  
D. J. Adams

The intrinsic cardiac ganglia of the neonatal rat heart in situ were studied using electrophysiological and histochemical techniques. The vagal branches innervating the atrial myocardium and cardiac ganglia were identified and individual ganglion cells visualized using Hoffman modulation contrast optics. Histochemical studies revealed the presence of acetylcholinesterase activity associated with neuronal cell bodies and fibers, catecholamine-containing, small intensely fluorescent cells, and cell bodies and nerve fibers immunoreactive for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Intracellular recordings from the "principal" cells of the rat cardiac ganglion in situ revealed a fast excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) evoked after electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, which was inhibited by the nicotinic receptor antagonist, mecamylamine. No spontaneously firing neurons were found, although infrequent (less than 2 min-1) spontaneous miniature EPSPs were observed in most neurons. The quantal content of neurally evoked responses was between 10 and 30 quanta, and the presence of multiple EPSPs in some cells suggested polyneuronal innervation. The neurally evoked EPSP amplitude was dependent on the rate of nerve stimulation, decreasing with increasing frequency of stimulation. Neurons exhibited a sustained depolarization during high frequency stimulation (greater than 1 Hz), and in approximately 15% of the cells a slow depolarization lasting 1-3 min was observed after a train of stimuli. The presence of catecholamine- and neuropeptide-containing neuronal cell body fibers in neonatal rat cardiac ganglia in situ, along with neurally evoked postsynaptic responses resistant to cholinergic ganglionic blockers, suggests a role for noncholinergic transmission in the regulation of the mammalian heart beat.


1982 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. Skoogh ◽  
M. J. Holtzman ◽  
J. R. Sheller ◽  
J. A. Nadel

To determine which site in the vagal motor pathway to airway smooth muscle is most sensitive to depression by barbiturates, we recorded isometric muscle tension in vitro and stimulated the vagal motor pathway at four different sites before and after exposure to barbiturates. In isolated tracheal rings from ferrets, we stimulated muscarinic receptors in the neuromuscular junction by exogenous acetylcholine, postganglionic nerve fibers by electrical fluid stimulation, and the postsynaptic membrane in ganglia by 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP). We also developed a tracheal nerve-muscle preparation to stimulate preganglionic fibers in the vagus nerve electrically. Activation of ganglia by DMPP or by vagus nerve stimulation was depressed by barbiturates at 10-fold lower concentrations than those depressing the activation of postganglionic nerves or the neuromuscular junction. These findings suggest that the postsynaptic membrane in parasympathetic ganglia is the site in the vagal motor pathway most sensitive to depression by barbiturates.


1916 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 605-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Canby Robinson

The experiments that have been reported indicate that stimulation of either the right vagus or the left vagus nerve is equally effectual in blocking impulses from the auricles to the ventricles when auricular fibrillation is present. Stimulation of the left vagus nerve is as effectual in blocking impulses from the normally beating auricles as from the auricles when in a state of fibrillation, and the type of auricular activity has apparently no influence on the effect which stimulation of the left vagus has on auriculoventricular conduction.


1975 ◽  
Vol 229 (3) ◽  
pp. 783-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Schwaber ◽  
N Schneiderman

Unit activity evoked by electrical stimulation of the aortic and vagus nerves was recorded in the dorsal motor nucleus and nucleus solitarius of unanesthetized rabbits. Cardioinhibitory cells which showed antidromic activation to stimulation of the vagus nerve and synaptic activation to stimulation of the aortic nerve were localized in lateral dorsal motor nucleus 0.5-0.8 mm anterior of the obex. Additionally, units were found that appeared to be interneurons in the medullary pathway subserving baroreceptor reflex effects on cardioinhibitory neurons. These cells were activated by aortic, and usually vagus, nerve stimulation, appeared to be polysynaptically activated, and were located in medial nucleus solitarius rostral to the obex. Neurons reflecting a cardiac rhythm but not activated by aortic nerve stimulation were also observed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 320 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélissa Dali ◽  
Chloé Picq ◽  
Olivier Rossel ◽  
Pawel Maciejasz ◽  
Charles-Henri Malbert ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 000348942094254
Author(s):  
Jason R. Crossley ◽  
Nathan Aminpour ◽  
Jonathan P. Giurintano ◽  
Ann K. Jay ◽  
Brent T. Harris ◽  
...  

Objectives: To present a novel location in which neurosarcoidomatous inflammation is identified and its accompanying presentation. Methods: The authors present a case of bilateral vocal fold paresis associated with non-caseating granulomatous inflammation of the cervical and intra-axial portions of the vagus nerve masquerading as a cranial nerve tumor. Results: Examination revealed bilateral vocal fold paresis and asymmetric palate elevation. MRI demonstrated enhancing bilateral jugular foramen masses, and neck ultrasound demonstrated bilateral thickened appearance of the vagus nerves. Vagus nerve biopsy demonstrated non-caseating granulomas. Conclusions: Neurosarcoidosis may contribute to variable cranial neuropathies. Vocal fold paresis is usually thought to arise from mediastinal compression of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Rarely, though, lesions may arise in other parts of the vagus nerve. Failure of response to steroids does not rule out the diagnosis, making tissue diagnosis important in some cases.


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