The purpose of this study was to activate a vagovagal reflex by using esophageal distension and nicotine and test whether hindbrain nitric oxide and norepinephrine are involved in this reflex function. We used double-labeling immunocytochemical methods to determine whether esophageal distension (and nicotine) activates c-Fos expression in nitrergic and noradrenergic neurons in the nucleus tract...

Eosinophilic esophagitis is characterized by increased infiltration and degranulation of eosinophils in the esophagus. Whether eosinophil-derived cationic proteins regulate esophageal sensory nerve function is still unknown. Using synthetic cationic protein to investigate such effect, we performed extracellular recordings from vagal nodose or jugular neurons in ex vivo esophageal-vagal preparat...

Ferreira, Manuel, Jr., Niaz Sahibzada, Min Shi, Mark Niedringhaus, Matthew R. Wester, Allison R. Jones, Joseph G. Verbalis, and Richard A. Gillis. Hindbrain chemical mediators of reflex-induced inhibition of gastric tone produced by esophageal distension and intravenous nicotine. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 289: R1482–R1495, 2005. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00584.2005.— The purpose of this ...

Acid reflux-induced heartburn and noncardiac chest pain are processed peripherally by sensory nerve endings in the wall of the esophagus, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. This study aims to determine the effects of acid on esophageal vagal nociceptive afferent subtypes. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in guinea pig vagal nodose or jugular C fiber neurons by usi...

It has long been known that the esophageal distension produced by swallowing elicits a powerful proximal gastric relaxation. Gastroinhibitory control by the esophagus involves neural pathways from esophageal distension-sensitive neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius centralis (cNTS) with connections to virtually all levels of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). We have shown recent...

Recent studies have shown that afferent signals originating from the pharynx inhibit progression of primary esophageal peristalsis. Our aim was to further elucidate the effect of esophageal and pharyngeal afferent stimulation on primary and secondary esophageal peristalsis. We studied the effect of esophageal air distension and pharyngeal water stimulation on progression of primary and secondar...

Balloon distension is a commonly used technique in visceral organs. Research studies take advantage of this technique for studying organ physiology, e.g. for studying the force-deformation relationship and mechanosensitive receptors in the gastrointestinal wall. Balloon distension is also used for diagnostic purposes, e.g. in the diagnostics of non-cardiac chest pain and for treatment of diseas...

Ferreira, Manuel, Jr., Niaz Sahibzada, Min Shi, Mark Niedringhaus, Matthew R. Wester, Allison R. Jones, Joseph G. Verbalis, and Richard A. Gillis. Hindbrain chemical mediators of reflex-induced inhibition of gastric tone produced by esophageal distension and intravenous nicotine. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 289: R1482–R1495, 2005. First published July 28, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00...

Both circular muscles (CM) and longitudinal muscles (LM) of the esophagus participate in peristalsis. Various measurement techniques have yielded conflicting information as to the temporal correlation between contraction in the two muscle layers. High-frequency intraluminal ultrasound (HFIUS) is a novel technique to detect contraction of LM and CM of the esophagus. We investigated the temporal ...

Sensitization of esophageal afferents plays an important role in esophageal nociception, but the mechanism is less clear. Our previous studies demonstrated that mast cell (MC) activation releases the preformed mediators histamine and tryptase, which play important roles in sensitization of esophageal vagal nociceptive C fibers. PGD2 is a lipid mediator released by activated MCs. Whether PGD2 pl...