INTRODUCTION There is now abundant evidence that the immune system and the brain have close functional interactions in both directions. This review focuses on the influence of the microbiota (the bacteria resident in the gut) on brain function in major depressive disorder (MDD) and related syndromes. The gut and the central nervous system communicate partly through the autonomic nervous system ...

The autonomic nervous system (cANS) is essential for proper heart function, and complications such as heart failure, arrhythmias and even sudden cardiac death are associated with an altered cANS function. A changed innervation state may underlie (part of) the atrial and ventricular arrhythmias observed after myocardial infarction. In other cardiac diseases, such as congenital heart disease, aut...

It has been recognized that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a systemic disease which has been shown to negatively affect the cardiovascular and autonomic nerve system. The complexity of the physiologic basis by which autonomic dysfunction occurs in patients with COPD is considerable and the knowledge in this field remains elementary. The purpose of this review is to provide an o...

In a recent study, we examined the glycemic and autonomic nervous responses to probiotic strain Lactobacillus johnsonii La1, and presented evidence that intraduodenal (ID) injection of this bacteria affected autonomic nerves and lowered blood pressure (BP) in anesthetized rats. In the study presented here, we examined the feeding, autonomic and cardiovascular effects of the lactobacillus strain...

Autonomic neuropathies may occur primarily or secondarily to various underlying diseases. Primary autonomic neuropathies are divided into pure autonomic neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy with sensory impairment, and autonomic neuropathy with sensory and motor impairment based on the concomitance or absence of sensory or motor dysfunctions. Autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy refers to a pure aut...

BACKGROUND Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is currently used to treat refractory epilepsy and is being investigated as a potential therapy for a range of conditions, including heart failure, tinnitus, obesity and Alzheimer's disease. However, the invasive nature and expense limits the use of VNS in patient populations and hinders the exploration of the mechanisms involved. OBJECTIVE We investig...

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has inotropic and chronotropic effects in rat and guinea pig hearts. It also may mediate nonadrenergic noncholinergic regulation of canine cardiac electrophysiology. In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to determine the anatomic distribution of CGRP in mature dog heart and autonomic ganglia controlling cardiac function. The stellate ganglia had sca...

The heart of the crustaceans has its own pacemaker neurons inside the heart, which are composed of 9 neurons. The neurons receive innervations of only three kinds of axons originated from the central nervous system; one pair of inhibitory and two pairs of acceleratory axons. Thus, in terms of the neural cardiac control from higher center, this system may have much more simplistic operation comp...

The heart of the crustaceans has its own pacemaker neurons inside the heart, which are composed of 9 neurons. The neurons receive innervations of only three kinds of axons originated from the central nervous system; one pair of inhibitory and two pairs of acceleratory axons. Thus, in terms of the neural cardiac control from higher center, this system may have much more simplistic operation comp...

Baroreceptor-heart rate reflex sensitivity is decreased in congestive heart failure. The reflex control of heart rate and sympathetic nerve activity in rats with chronic volume overload, an established model for moderate heart failure, is still unknown. Therefore, we investigated the regulation of humoral and neuronal sympathetic activity and the baroreflex control of heart rate and sympathetic...