BACKGROUND Hemorrhagic shock is associated with changes in vascular responsiveness that may lead to organ dysfunction and, ultimately, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Volatile anesthetics interfere with vasoresponsiveness, which may contribute to organ hypoperfusion. In this study, the authors examined the influence of adjunct nitrous oxide on the vascular responsiveness after short-term h...

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to investigate the gastric smooth muscle reactivity in the Adriamycin-induced esophageal atresia (EA) rat model. METHODS The fetuses were divided into 3 groups. The control group was exposed to saline. The second group was comprised of fetuses that were exposed to Adriamycin but did not have EA (Adriamycin-no-EA group). The third group was comprised of fetuses...

The purpose of these studies is to determine the colonic myoelectrical and contractile response after eating a 1000 calorie meal in patients with active ulcerative colitis. During fasting, slow waves are identifiable significantly more in patients with ulcerative colitis than in normal subjects (p < 0 . 01). The predominant slow wave frequency is 6 . 1 +/- 0 . 2 cycles/min, which is similar to ...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) may be a mediator of some sequelae of cholecystitis, a disorder with gallbladder motor dysfunction. The aims of this study were to determine the effect and mechanism of PAF on gallbladder muscle. Exogenous administration of PAF-16 or PAF-18 caused dose-dependent contractions of gallbladder muscle strips in vitro with threshold doses of 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml, resp...

Two kinds of electrical stimulation, low frequency stimulation (5 Hz, 1 msec, 5 pulses, every 20 sec) and high frequency stimulation (30 Hz, 0.1 msec, 20 pulses, every 20 sec), produced contractions in isolated guinea-pig vas deferens. These responses were blocked by alpha, beta-methylene-ATP, but not prazosin. Phentolamine potentiated the contractions produced by low frequency stimulation, whi...

BACKGROUND Cellular mechanisms underlying the diminished inotropic response of remodeled hearts after myocardial infarction (MI) remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS Left ventricular (LV) remodeling and function were assessed by 2D echocardiography and isolated perfused heart studies in 6-week post-MI and sham-operated rats. LV myocytes from sham and noninfarcted MI hearts were used for morpho...

KEY POINTS Patients with diabetes show a blunted cardiac inotropic response to β-adrenergic stimulation despite normal cardiac contractile reserve. Acute insulin stimulation impairs β-adrenergically induced contractile function in isolated cardiomyocytes and Langendorff-perfused hearts. In this study, we aimed to examine the potential effects of hyperinsulinaemia associated with high-fat diet (...

In canine coronary artery preparations, the proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR(2)) activating peptides (PAR(2)-APs) SLIGRL-NH(2) and 2-furoyl-LIGRLO-NH(2) caused both an endothelium-dependent relaxation and an endothelium-independent contraction. Relaxation was caused at peptide concentrations 10-fold lower than those causing a contractile response. Although trans-cinnamoyl-LIGRLO-NH(2), like...

It has been reported that some of H1 receptor antagonists have important effects on cardiovascular system. Terfenadine as a non-sedative H1 receptor antagonist has an arrhythmogenic activity. In this study we have shown the effects of four antihistamine drugs: terfenadine, loratadine, clemastine and diphenhydramine, on the rate and contractions of isolated rat atria. Terfenadine (1-10 µM) cause...