Electrophysiological Investigations of the Heart of Squilla Mantis

1964 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-700
Author(s):  
HILARY F. BROWN

1. With an external hook electrode placed upon the ganglionic nerve trunk of the isolated heart of Squilla mantis a burst of a small number (3-12) of nerve impulses was recorded at each heart beat. 2. The number of impulses per burst showed a direct correlation with interval between bursts. 3. The only consistent feature of impulse pattern within the bursts was a lengthening of the intervals between impulses towards the ends of the bursts. 4. Electrodes at two points on the ganglionic nerve trunk each recorded the same number of impulses at a burst. The delay between the two recording points was the same for all impulses, and usually all the impulses were, in a given heart, recorded travelling in the same direction, though this could be either forwards or backwards along the chain. 5. It is suggested that each cell in the chain of 16 fires in succession the same number of times during a burst and that the impulses travel along the same ‘firing channel’ within the ganglionic nerve trunk. 6. Cells near the two ends of the chain showed the greatest spontaneity when isolated by transverse cuts or ligatures. Coupled with the records obtained from two points, this suggests that the bursts are initiated in the front or back regions of the chain, but not invariably by the same one of the 16 cells.

1964 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-734
Author(s):  
HILARY F. BROWN

1. There was a seasonal variation in the strength of the effect which extracts of the pericardial organs of Squilla mantis exert on the animal's heart. The extract was most effective in the spring and summer. 2. An investigation was made of the way in which the pericardial organ extract acts at a cellular level to increase the amplitude and frequency of the heart beat. 3. The extract did not affect the rate of impulse firing within the ganglionic nerve trunk burst. It increased the ratio of the number of impulses per burst: burst interval. 4. It initiated burst firing in complete g.n.t.'s which had become quiescent, and in those which had previously given only one impulse in response to an applied stimulus. 5. The junction potentials recorded intracellularly from Squilla heart muscle increased in height on adding pericardial extract. Some of this increase resulted from facilitation of the junction potentials at the increased heart rate, but 10-20% of the increase was rate-independent. 6. These results suggest that the extract acts at a minimum of two primary sites within the heart.


1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (19) ◽  
pp. 2595-2607 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Willoughby ◽  
M.S. Yeoman ◽  
P.R. Benjamin

We have used a combination of biochemical and pharmacological techniques to investigate the role of the cyclic nucleotides, 3′, 5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and 3′,5′-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cyclic GMP), in mediating the cardioregulatory effects of FMRFamide and other neuropeptides encoded on exon II of the FMRFamide gene of Lymnaea stagnalis. The ‘isoleucine’ peptides (EFLRIamide and pQFYRIamide) produced complex biphasic effects on the frequency, force of contraction and tonus of the isolated heart of L. stagnalis, which were dependent on adenylate cyclase (AC) activity of the heart tissue. At a control rate of cyclic AMP production of less than or equal to 10 pmoles min(−)(1)mg(−)(1) protein, the ‘isoleucine’ peptides produced a significant increase in AC activity in heart membrane preparations. This suggested that the enhanced AC activity is responsible for the stimulatory effects of the ‘isoleucine’ peptides on frequency and force of contraction of heart beat. This excitation sometimes followed an initial ‘inhibitory phase’ where the frequency of beat, force of contraction and tonus of the heart were reduced by the ‘isoleucine’ peptides. Hearts that showed the inhibitory phase of the ‘isoleucine’ response, but characteristically lacked the delayed excitatory phase, were found to have high levels of membrane AC activity (breve)10 pmoles min(−)(1)mg(−)(1) protein in controls. Application of the ‘isoleucine’ peptides to membrane homogenate preparation from these hearts failed to increase AC activity. The addition of FMRFamide produced significant increases in the rate of cyclic AMP production in the heart membrane preparations, which could account, at least in part, for the cardioexcitatory effects of this peptide in the isolated whole heart. A membrane-permeable cyclic AMP analogue (8-bromo-cyclic AMP) and an AC activator (forskolin) were also cardioexcitatory. The peptide SEEPLY had no effects on the beat properties of the isolated heart and did not alter AC activity. The activity of the membrane-bound (particulate) guanylate cyclase (GC) was not significantly affected by any of the peptides.


1932 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. ELINOR HUNTSMAN

The excised hearts of spinal skates (Raja spp.) were employed, using a modified Straub method with Smith's perfusion fluid. Adrenaline, when added to the perfusion fluid, produced both acceleration and augmentation of the heart beats, but after atropine adrenaline had scarcely any effect. Acetyl choline diminished the rate and decreased the amplitude of the heart beat but on addition of atropine the beat returned to normal. Histamine produced augmentation and a slight acceleration of the heart beat. It was concluded that the skate heart reacts to this substance in much the same way as does the mammalian heart but in the case of the skate there is a rather poorly developed sympathetic innervation.


1933 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hudson Hoagland

The spontaneous discharge of impulses from the lateral-line nerves of trout and catfish has been examined. 1. Broken endings of nerve fibers supplying receptors of the lateral-lines of trout and catfish may be the source of a repetitive discharge of nerve impulses. 2. This injury discharge occurs more frequently in trout and may mask the spontaneous discharge from the receptor cells. Experiments indicate that the latter discharge is not the result of injury. 3. The injury discharge ceases in from 10 to 15 minutes. The spontaneous receptor discharge in trout may continue for an hour if the circulation remains intact. The receptor response also fails in from 10 to 15 minutes after failure of the circulation. 4. The receptor discharge, the injury discharge, or the summed discharges frequently become synchronized. The excitability of the fibers of the nerve trunk appears to vary synchronously, so that nerve impulses initiated in fibers from tactile receptors not contributing to the spontaneous discharge can be conducted only during the part of the cycle occupied by the spontaneous discharge.


2003 ◽  
Vol 284 (6) ◽  
pp. H2384-H2392 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rosa ◽  
J.-P. Maury ◽  
J. Terrand ◽  
X. Lyon ◽  
P. Kucera ◽  
...  

Recently, rapid and transient cardiac pacing was shown to induce preconditioning in animal models. Whether the electrical stimulation per se or the concomitant myocardial ischemia affords such a protection remains unknown. We tested the hypothesis that chronic pacing of a cardiac preparation maintained in a normoxic condition can induce protection. Hearts of 4-day-old chick embryos were electrically paced in ovo over a 12-h period using asynchronous and intermittent ventricular stimulation (5 min on-10 min off) at 110% of the intrinsic rate. Sham ( n = 6) and paced hearts ( n= 6) were then excised, mounted in vitro, and subjected successively to 30 min of normoxia (20% O2), 30 min of anoxia (0% O2), and 60 min of reoxygenation (20% O2). Electrocardiogram and atrial and ventricular contractions were simultaneously recorded throughout the experiment. Reoxygenation-induced chrono-, dromo-, and inotropic disturbances, incidence of arrhythmias, and changes in electromechanical delay (EMD) in atria and ventricle were systematically investigated in sham and paced hearts. Under normoxia, the isolated heart beat spontaneously and regularly, and all baseline functional parameters were similar in sham and paced groups (means ± SD): heart rate (190 ± 36 beats/min), P-R interval (104 ± 25 ms), mechanical atrioventricular propagation (20 ± 4 mm/s), ventricular shortening velocity (1.7 ± 1 mm/s), atrial EMD (17 ± 4 ms), and ventricular EMD (16 ± 2 ms). Under anoxia, cardiac function progressively collapsed, and sinoatrial activity finally stopped after ∼9 min in both groups. During reoxygenation, paced hearts showed 1) a lower incidence of arrhythmias than sham hearts, 2) an increased rate of recovery of ventricular contractility compared with sham hearts, and 3) a faster return of ventricular EMD to basal value than sham hearts. However, recovery of heart rate, atrioventricular conduction, and atrial EMD was not improved by pacing. Activity of all hearts was fully restored at the end of reoxygenation. These findings suggest that chronic electrical stimulation of the ventricle at a near-physiological rate selectively alters some cellular functions within the heart and constitutes a nonischemic means to increase myocardial tolerance to a subsequent hypoxia-reoxygenation.


1972 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-247
Author(s):  
G. W. CIVIL ◽  
T. E. THOMPSON

1. Isolated hearts of Helix pomatia could be maintained for 3-4 days at 19 °C in physiological saline. Co-ordination was soon lost, but irregular twitches could be observed for up to 115 h. 2. A perfusion apparatus was designed which supplied a simulated venous return pressure of 8 cm saline and enabled in vitro survival of pericardium-free hearts for up to 2 days at 15 °C. Cessation of perfusion led immediately to a reversible stoppage of heart-beat. 3. An artificial pericardium apparatus (APA) allowed the role of the pericardium to be studied. In the APA measurable translocation of fluid was effected by the heart, even when the simulated venous return pressure was negative. 4. If the APA was transformed into an open system by opening up a simulated reno-pericardial canal, the effectiveness of the heart was greatly reduced. 5. In the APA the greater the dilation of the heart (in consequence of decreased volume of pericardial fluid) the greater was the stroke volume for a given simulated venous return pressure. 6. Results obtained with the APA give support to the theory that in the gastropod heart the filling of the auricle is hydrodynamically coupled (through the pericardial fluid) to the emptying of the ventricle.


1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (19) ◽  
pp. 2581-2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Willoughby ◽  
M.S. Yeoman ◽  
P.R. Benjamin

This paper examines the importance of the calcium-mobilizing inositol phosphate pathway in mediating the effects of FMRFamide and its gene-related neuropeptides on the myogenic heart beat of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. These peptides are encoded on a single exon of the FMRFamide gene and mediate diverse physiological effects in the isolated heart. The rate of production of inositol-1,4, 5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P(3)] and inositol-1,3,4, 5-tetrakisphosphate [Ins(1,3,4,5)P(4)], measured using an HPLC method, were both significantly elevated in a concentration-dependent manner by FMRFamide (and were also elevated by FLRFamide). The threshold for increasing inositol phosphate production was low (100 pmol l(−1)) with a peak response occurring at 1 micromol l(−1) FMRFamide. The shape of the dose-response curve for FMRFamide-induced elevation of heart-beat frequency, obtained in pharmacological experiments on the isolated whole heart, was similar to that for stimulation of inositol phosphate levels in homogenized heart tissue. FMRFamide and Ins(1,4,5)P(3) produced similar effects on the rate of heart beat in permeabilized whole hearts. In addition, the phospholipase C inhibitor, neomycin (2.5 mmol l(−)(1)), blocked the stimulatory effects of FMRFamide on Ins(1, 4,5)P(3) production in heart homogenate, and attenuated the excitatory effects of this neuropeptide in the isolated heart. The ‘isoleucine’ pentapeptides, EFLRIamide and pQFYRIamide, also encoded by the FMRFamide gene, produced no significant effects on inositol phosphate production when applied alone or in combination with FMRFamide. These results suggested that FMRFamide (and FLRFamide), but not EFLRIamide and pQFYRIamide, mediated their main effects on heart beat via the inositol phosphate pathway. The fifth peptide, SEQPDVDDYLRDVVLQSEEPLY (‘SEEPLY’) had no effect when applied alone but appeared to modulate the effects of FMRFamide by delaying the time-to-peak of the Ins(1,4,5)P(3) response from 5 s to 20 s by an unknown mechanism.


Author(s):  
W.G. Wier

A fundamentally new understanding of cardiac excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling is being developed from recent experimental work using confocal microscopy of single isolated heart cells. In particular, the transient change in intracellular free calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i transient) that activates muscle contraction is now viewed as resulting from the spatial and temporal summation of small (∼ 8 μm3), subcellular, stereotyped ‘local [Ca2+]i-transients' or, as they have been called, ‘calcium sparks'. This new understanding may be called ‘local control of E-C coupling'. The relevance to normal heart cell function of ‘local control, theory and the recent confocal data on spontaneous Ca2+ ‘sparks', and on electrically evoked local [Ca2+]i-transients has been unknown however, because the previous studies were all conducted on slack, internally perfused, single, enzymatically dissociated cardiac cells, at room temperature, usually with Cs+ replacing K+, and often in the presence of Ca2-channel blockers. The present work was undertaken to establish whether or not the concepts derived from these studies are in fact relevant to normal cardiac tissue under physiological conditions, by attempting to record local [Ca2+]i-transients, sparks (and Ca2+ waves) in intact, multi-cellular cardiac tissue.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Riganello ◽  
A. Candelieri ◽  
M. Quintieri ◽  
G. Dolce

The purpose of the study was to identify significant changes in heart rate variability (an emerging descriptor of emotional conditions; HRV) concomitant to complex auditory stimuli with emotional value (music). In healthy controls, traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients, and subjects in the vegetative state (VS) the heart beat was continuously recorded while the subjects were passively listening to each of four music samples of different authorship. The heart rate (parametric and nonparametric) frequency spectra were computed and the spectra descriptors were processed by data-mining procedures. Data-mining sorted the nu_lf (normalized parameter unit of the spectrum low frequency range) as the significant descriptor by which the healthy controls, TBI patients, and VS subjects’ HRV responses to music could be clustered in classes matching those defined by the controls and TBI patients’ subjective reports. These findings promote the potential for HRV to reflect complex emotional stimuli and suggest that residual emotional reactions continue to occur in VS. HRV descriptors and data-mining appear applicable in brain function research in the absence of consciousness.


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