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The effect of acute arterio-venous fistula on mean and phasic coronary flow was studied on 4 open-chest dogs. When the pressure is basically high, after the opening of the fistula the fall which coronary flow shows during the isometric systole occurs to a lesser extent; conversely, when the pressure is basically normal, the fall of the coronary flow may be absent.

Previous studies in anesthetized animals showed that distension of the stomach or the descending colon primarily caused decreases in mean coronary blood flow. Whether these responses occurred during systole or diastole was not investigated. The present work was planned to study the primary effects of the distension of the two viscera on phasic coronary blood flow in the anesthetized pig. In ten animals, the stomach and the descending colon were distended at constant volume by injecting warm Ringer solution into intravisceral balloons (0.8 and 0.25 l respectively) while preventing changes in heart rate and arterial blood pressure. Distensions of the stomach or the descending colon caused a decrease in mean coronary blood flow in each pig. However, the decrease elicited by gastric distension occurred only during diastole, while the decrease caused by descending colon distension involved both systolic and diastolic coronary blood flows. The same effects on phasic coronary blood flow were observed during experiments in which the decreases in mean coronary blood flow elicited by distension of the stomach or the descending colon were further augmented by adding the distension of the second viscerum. The results indicate that the coronary vasoconstriction caused by gastric distension mainly involves the vessels which supply the subendocardial layers of the myocardium, while that caused by descending colon distension also involves the vessels which supply the subepicardial layers. The vasoconstrictor effect on the subendocardial coronary circulation is enhanced by the combined distension of the two viscera.

It has recently been shown that distension of the stomach in anesthetized pigs causes reflex hemodynamic responses through efferent sympathetic mechanisms. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether these mechanisms include activation of the renin-angiotensin system. In twelve anesthetized pigs, intragastric balloons were distended for periods of 30 minutes by 0.81 of warm Ringer solution (mean gastric transmural pressure of about 12 mmHg). Changes in arterial blood pressure and heart rate were respectively prevented by a pressurized reservoir connected to the left femoral artery and by atrial pacing. Plasma renin activity was measured during the last minute of distension by radioimmunoassay of angiotensin I. In each of the twelve pigs distension of the stomach caused an increase in plasma renin activity. In five pigs, this response was graded with step increments of the distension. The increase in plasma renin activity to gastric distension was abolished by bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (six pigs) and by bilateral section of the renal nerves (six pigs). The present study showed that innocuous distension of the stomach in the anesthetized pig reflexly increased plasma renin activity. The afferent limb of the reflex was in the vagal nerves and the efferent limb involved renal nerves.

In five anaesthetized open-chest dogs, aortic blood pressure, cardiac output and coronary flow were recorded. After the barorecptor reflex activity was suppressed by clamping both common carotid arteries and cutting both vagi nerves, aortic blood pressure and mean coronary flow increased. Phasic coronary flow further decreased in systole and increased in diastole, whereas coronary vascular resistance fell only when the suppression of the baroreceptor reflex activity had caused an increase of the heart rate.

We have recently shown that distension of the descending colon in anesthetized dogs causes reflex increases in heart rate, aortic blood pressure and the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure, involving afferent pathways in the hypogastric nerves. In this study we have examined the efferent mechanisms involved in those responses. The descending colon was distended using Ringer solution at constant pressure in 13 anesthetized dogs. As previously shown, distension of the colon caused an increase in aortic blood pressure, heart rate and the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure. The increase in the aortic blood pressure was abolished by either bretylium tosylate or phentolamine. Propranolol or bretylium tosylate abolished the increases in heart rate when changes in the aortic blood pressure were prevented, and abolished the increases in the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure when the increases in heart rate were also prevented. These results indicate that the reflex increases in heart rate, arterial blood pressure and the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure involved efferent sympathetic pathways.

In the open-chest anesthetized dog, multiple arterial haemorrhage induces a reduction of the mean coronary flow, an absote or relative increase of the phasic flow during the early ventricular ejection phase and a decrease during the remaining phases of the cardiac cycle. When blood pressure falls sharply during the haemorrhage, coronary vascular resistance increases, whereas it does not change or decreases when blood pressure falls slowly. Moreover, coronary vascular resistance decreases transiently after the stoppage of the haemorrhage.

To decide whether distension of the urinary bladder reflexly affects the left ventricular inotropic state, experiments were performed in eight dogs anesthetized with pentobarbitone. After cannulation of both ureters the urinary bladder was repeatedly distended through a urethral catheter with warm Ringer solution at a steady intravesical pressure. The maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax) obtained at constant heart rate and cardiovascular pressures was used to assess changes in left ventricular inotropic state. Arterial blood pressure was prevented from changing by a pressurized reservoir containing warm Ringer solution and connected to the femoral arteries. Following prevention of the reflex increase in heart rate by atrial pacing, distension of the urinary bladder always increased the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure in the eight dogs. There were no significant changes in left ventricular systolic or end-diastolic pressures. The increase in maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure was abolished following the administration of propranolol. The results indicate that a reflex increase in left ventricular inotropic state occurred in response to distension of the urinary bladder. This reflex response involved beta-adrenergic stimulation.

The activity of the venom of Bitis Gabonica on mesenteric and external iliac circulation was investigated in four anaesthetized dogs. Venom doses of 0.125, 0.25 and 0.50 mg/kg were injected intravenously with an interval of 30 minutes between two successive injections. Following the first and the second dose, a transient fall of the resistance was observed in the mesenteric and especially in the external iliac vascular bed. Then, mesenteric resistance returned to normal, whereas external iliac resistance increased noticeable above the control value. After the third injection the animals died in a state of severe hypotension. It is note-worthy that during the transient vasodilation, mesenteric flow did not increase proportionally to the reduction of the relevant resistance, owing to the fact that BP fell more than would have been expected from the mesenteric vasodilation. This discrepancy seemed to depend on a more conspicuous reduction of the resistance in other vascular beds as observed in the external iliac circulation.

Background: Uric acid (UA) is a strong natural scavenger of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, with evidence of possible use in the treatment of animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS). Consequently, serum UA has gained much attention as a possible biomarker of MS. We aim to investigate differences in serum UA levels between MS subjects and controls and evaluate possible relationships of UA with MS clinical features. Methods: We recruited relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive MS subjects and healthy controls and measured their serum UA levels. We excluded subjects presenting concomitant conditions affecting UA levels. Results: MS subjects (n=362) and controls (n=181) were recruited by propensity score matching (PSM). Statistical analyses were corrected for age, gender, and renal function. MS subjects presented significantly lower serum UA levels than controls (analysis of variance, p=0.014, adjusted r2=0.3036). Linear regression analysis showed a relationship between UA levels and disease duration (p

Background This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical relevance of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy controls using extra- and intracranial colour Doppler sonography. Methods We examined 146 MS patients, presenting with a clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting, secondary progressive, or primary progressive MS, and 38 healthy controls. Sonographic examination was performed according to Zamboni’s protocol and was performed by three independent sonographers. The results of sonographic examination were compared with clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients. Results CCSVI, defined as the presence of at least two positive Zamboni’s criteria, was found in 76% of MS patients and 16% of control subjects. B-mode anomalies of internal jugular veins, such as stenosis, malformed valves, annuli, and septa were the most common lesions detected in MS patients (80.8%) and controls (47.4%). We observed a positive correlation between sonographic diagnosis of CCSVI and the patients’ age (p = 0.003). However, such a correlation was not found in controls (p = 0.635). Notably, no significant correlations were found between sonographic signs of CCSVI and clinical characteristics of MS, except for absent flow in the jugular veins, which was found more often in primary (p Conclusions Sonographically defined CCSVI is common in MS patients. However, CCSVI appears to be primarily associated with the patient’s age, and poorly correlated with the clinical course of the disease.