The Effect of Graded Vagal Stimulation on Gastric Motility, Secretion and Blood Flow in the Cat

Martinson, J. The effect of graded vagal stimulation on gastric motiliy, secretion and blood flow in the cat. A cta physiol. scand. 1965. 65 . 300–309. — In experiments on cats gastric motility, secretion and blood flow were studied simultaneously or separately. By applying efferent vagal stimulation with variation of impulse duration but with constant voltage and impulse frequency, responses of the above mentioned functions were obtained suggesting two groups of efferent nerve fibres in the vagus nerves. Thus, secretion of both hydrochloric acid and of pepsinogen, vasodilatation and inhibition of motility (relasation of the corpus and fundus) were all elicited via a nerve fibre group with a considerably higher stimulation threshold than the fibre group that enhances gastric motility. Both fibre groups can exert their control at impulse frequencies below 10 imp/sec. It is possible that secretion of both HCl and pepsin, relaxation and vasodilatation normally form a gastric response pattern elicited by a concomitant excitation of the efferent high‐threshold fibres of the vagus nerves.