This review considers interoceptive signalling from the heart and coronary circulation. Vagal and cardiac sympathetic afferent sensory nerve endings are distributed throughout the atria, ventricles (mainly left), and coronary artery. A small proportion of cardiac receptors attached to thick myelinated vagal afferents are tonically active during the cardiac cycle. Dependent upon location, these mechanoreceptors detect fluctuations in atrial volume and coronary arterial perfusion. Atrial volume and coronary arterial signals contribute to beat-to-beat feedback control and physiological homeostasi ..read more

Unilateral nociceptive stimulation is associated with subtle signs of pupil asymmetry that may reflect lateralized activity in the locus coeruleus. To explore drivers of this pupil asymmetry, electrical stimuli, delivered alone or 200 ms before or after an acoustic startle stimulus, were administered to one ankle under four experimental conditions: with or without a 1.6 s anticipatory period, or while the forearm ipsilateral or contralateral to the electrical stimulus was heated tonically to induce moderate pain (15 healthy participants in each condition ..read more

Tributyltin (TBT) is a biocide used in the formulation of antifouling paints and it is highly harmful. Despite the ban, the compound persists in the environment, contaminating marine foodstuffs and household products. Therefore, considering the route of exposure to the contaminant, the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) acts as an important barrier against harmful substances and is a potential biomarker for understanding the consequences of these agents. This work aimed to evaluate histological and neuronal alterations in the duodenum of male Wistar rats that received 20 ng/g TBT and 600 ng/g via ga ..read more

Chronic psychological stress develops and exacerbates irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) via activation of intestinal 5-HT3 receptors involves impairment of intestinal functions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ondansetron, a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, on locomotor activity, anxiety-related behaviors, and colonic functions in repeated water avoidance stress ..read more

Social stress is a major risk factor for comorbid conditions including cardiovascular disease and depression. While women exhibit 2–3× the risk for these stress-related conditions compared to men, the mechanisms underlying heightened stress susceptibility among females remain largely unknown. Due to a lack in understanding of the pathophysiology underlying stress-induced comorbidities among women, there has been a significant challenge in developing effective therapeutics. Recently, a causal role for inflammation has been established in the onset and progression of comorbid cardiovascular dise ..read more

Many esophageal striated muscles of mammals are dually innervated by the vagal and enteric nerves. Recently, substance P (SP)-sensory nerve terminals with calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were found on a few striated muscle fibers in the rat esophagus, implying that these muscle fibers are triply innervated. In this study, we examined the localization and origin of CGRP-nerve endings in striated muscles to consider their possible roles in the esophagus regarding triple innervation ..read more

Reported orthostatic hypotension (OH) prevalence in Parkinson's disease (PD) varies widely, with few studies evaluating specifically neurogenic-OH (nOH). The ratio of orthostatic heart rate (HR) to systolic blood pressure (SBP) change (Δ) is a valid screening method to stratify nOH/non-nOH but had minimal epidemiologic application ..read more

The liver is a large organ with crucial functions in metabolism and immune defense, as well as blood homeostasis and detoxification, and it is clearly in bidirectional communication with the brain and rest of the body via both neural and humoral pathways. A host of neural sensory mechanisms have been proposed, but in contrast to the gut-brain axis, details for both the exact site and molecular signaling steps of their peripheral transduction mechanisms are generally lacking. Similarly, knowledge about function-specific sensory and motor components of both vagal and spinal access pathways to th ..read more

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To determine in children, adolescent and young adult (CAYA) patients presenting with Orthostatic Intolerance (OI) or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) associated with the additional symptoms of neuropathic discomfort (pain, paresthesia and/or allodynia): 1) the incidence of small fiber neuropathy, and 2) assess if there was serologic evidence for an underlying inflammatory or autoimmune state ..read more