Cardiac myocytes and the coronary circulation are innervated by both sympathetic and parasympathetic fibres which constitute the autonomic nervous system. 2 The autonomic outflow is controlled by regulatory centres in the midbrain, hypothalamus, pons, and medulla which integrate inputs from other brain areas as well as afferent stimuli from the periphery. The efferent signals follow descending ...

Carbon monoxide (CO) is produced in the course of heme degradation from biliverdin by heme oxygenase (HO) in various tissues, including the central nervous system. Recent studies suggest the inhibition of HO activity increases arterial pressure mediated by the autonomic nervous system. The present study was designed to investigate the autonomic regulation of cardiovascular responses to inhibiti...

Several experimental models have demonstrated that the central nervous system is functionally linked to the immune system by means of the autonomic nervous system. Samples of 36 lymph nodes of patients whose ages ranged from 16 to 69 y were studied. In order to demonstrate the existence and distribution of sympathetic nerve fibres, a polyclonal antibody antityrosine hydroxylase (TH), with the s...

"Heart failure is an increasingly prevalent disease with high mortality and public health burden. It is associated with autonomic imbalance characterized by sympathetic hyperactivity and parasympathetic hypoactivity. Evolving novel interventional and device-based therapies have sought to restore autonomic balance by neuromodulation. Results of preclinical animal studies and early clinical trial...

purpose: hypercapnia increases minute ventilation (v’e) with little effect on heart rate (hr), whereas hypoxia may increase hr without affecting v’e. however, the effects of hypercapnia and hypoxia on both heart rate variability (hrv) and the clustering of heart beats during spontaneous breathing (respiratory sinus arrhythmia – rsa), are not clear. methods: in this study, 10 human volunteers br...

: Chronic heart failure is a common clinical condition characterized by persistent excessive sympathetic nervous system activation. The derangement of the sympathetic activity has relevant implications for disease progression and patient survival. Aiming to positively impact patient outcome, autonomic nervous system modulatory therapies have been developed and tested in animal and clinical stud...

The vagus nerve is a major component of the autonomic nervous system, has an important role in the regulation of metabolic homeostasis, and plays a key role in the neuroendocrine-immune axis to maintain homeostasis through its afferent and efferent pathways. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) refers to any technique that stimulates the vagus nerve, including manual or electrical stimulation. Left ce...

Physical and chemical agents acting on the ocular surface (extreme environmental temperatures, wind, foreign bodies, and chemicals) elicit conscious sensations and reflex motor and autonomic responses (blinking, lacrimation, conjunctival vasodilation) aimed at protecting the eye from further injury. Sensory nerve terminals of trigeminal ganglion neurons innervating the cornea and conjunctiva ar...