Thesis (doctoral)--University of Tampere, 1984. / Includes previously published articles. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-51 (1st group)).

Cholecystokinin (CCK)-like immunoreactive materials have been localized in neurons with cell bodies in the colon and axons in the IMG of the guinea pig. The physiological significance of neuronal CCK in sympathetic prevertebral ganglia is unknown. The goal of the present studies is to test the hypothesis the CCK is a neurotransmitter in the IMG of guinea pig and rabbit. In vitro IMG preparations with or without a segment of the colon attached were utilized to conduct intracellular recordings of potentials elicited in the neurons by pressure-ejected CCK₈. The peptide triggered a depolarization with rapid onset (1-5 s) and a rate of rise (1.6 ± 0.4 mV/s) in 95% of the neurons tested. Values of the ED₅₀ for effecting depolarization average 1.1 ± 0.5 pmoles. In 59% of the cells, the depolarization was associated with a decrease in R(in) and in 20% with an increase. The remaining cells showed no change in R(in). G(Na) and G(K) were increased and decreased, respectively; potential-dependence characteristics revealed a null potential of 36 ± 9 mV in those cells exhibiting a decrease in R(in). Gastrin, caerulein, and CCK₂₇₋₃₃ effected similar depolarization. CCK₈-evoked depolarization imitated the depolarization produced either by colon distension or by nerve stimulation. Upon repeated administration of CCK₈, the response of the cells to the peptide underwent tachyphylaxis. In addition, CCK₈ desensitized the depolarization evoked by stimulation in 50% of the cells. Furthermore, in an equal percentage of neurons, CCK₈ depressed responses of the colon distension-induced depolarization. The CCK₈ has both pre- and postsynaptic sites of action is supported by lowering Ca²⁺ and administering TTX (3 μM), which caused no effect and depressed 30% of CCK-induced depolarization respectively. Spantide (SP antagonist) blocked the response to SP, but not to CCK₈, in 5 out of 6 neurons, indicating separate receptor sites for SP and CCK₈. Moveover, completely desensitizing the cell response to SP or VIP did not cross desensitize its response to CCK₈ as observed in 6 neurons. In the rabbit IMG, the physiological significance of CCK₈ excitation is unknown, since colon distension did not elicit any depolarization. These results support the hypothesis that CCK₈ or a related peptide is a neurotransmitter mediating reflex activity between the colon and the IMG in guinea pig.

No description available.

No description available.

Intrakardinė nervų sistema atlieka svarbų vaidmenį reguliuodama širdies ritmą, miokardo laidumą ir susitraukimo jėgą bei vainikinių arterijų tonusą. Neišnešiotų kūdikių intrakardinės inervacijos topografija yra svarbi, atliekant perkateterinę radijodažninę abliaciją, taikomą medikamentiniam gydimui rezistentiškų supraventrikulinių bei atrioventrikulinių reciprokinių tachikardijų atvejais. Tyrėjų duomenys, apie mazgų topografiją bei struktūrinę organizaciją, yra gana skirtingi ir, kad žmogaus vaisių širdies intrakardinis nervinis rezginys iš tiesų nėra pakankamai ištirtas. Todėl darbo tikslas buvo ištirti žmogaus epikardinių nervinių mazgų topografiją ir morfologij�� įvairaus amžiaus vaisių širdyse. Disertacinio darbo rezultatai rodo, kad (1) žmogaus epikardiniai nerviniai mazgai yra lokalizuoti definityvinėse vietose jau penkiolikos savaičių vaisiaus širdyje; (2) epikardinių mazgų skaičius ir pasklidimas žmogaus 15-40 savaičių vaisiuose nėra susijęs su amžiumi; (3) epikardinių nervinių subrezginių mazgų laukų topografija yra pastovi tirtose vaisių širdyse; (4) epikardinių nervinių subrezginių mazgų laukų struktūra – ganglijų skaičius ir jų sritinė lokalizacija yra individualiai kintantys; (5) epikardinių mazgų ir mazginių neuronų dydis, o taip pat mazgų forma bei tarpmazginių nervų skaičius yra susiję su vaisių amžiumi. / Intrinsic cardiac nervous system plays a crucial role in regulation of heart rate, contractility and tone of the coronary vessels. In neonates and infants, the intrinsic neural pathways are considered to be important for radiofrequency ablation that is performed in cases of incessant supraventricular and atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. Findings regarding to topography of intrinsic cardiac ganglia in the human fetuses differ substantially and deserves a further examination. The aim of this study was to investigate the topography and morphology of the human epicardiac neural ganglia during prenatal period. Results of the present study show, that: (1) the human fetal epicardiac ganglia are in their definitive location already from 15 weeks of gestation; (2) the number of the fetal epicardiac ganglia does not age-dependent and does not differ significantly between the fetal and the adult humans; (3) the distribution of the fetal epicardiac ganglia does not age-dependent; (4) the variability of the neural ganglionated fields, including both the ganglion number and the regional ganglion density, vary substantially from heart to heart; (5) the sizes of epicardiac ganglia in the human fetuses differ substantially from the adult ones, and that the ganglion structure, ganglion size and the number of interganglionic nerves are dependent on gestation stage of the human fetuses.