Abstract
There are numerous reports concerning the effect of sympathetic nerve stimulation on gastric motility. In most of them, both excitatory and inhibitory effects are observed. Authors have emphasized that such reciprocal effects of sympathetic stimulation depended on the tonic condition of the stomach, the change of the gastric circulation, the types of stimulation, the difference of anesthetics and of types of nerve fibres. The most reasonable interpretation seems to be that the motor response to stimulation of the splanchnic or periarterial nerves is cholinergic (1-4) and the inhibitory one is adrenergic in origin (3, 5-7). However, since adrenergic motor response has also been reported (8-11), the problem is more complicated. The aim of the present experiment was to accumulate more detailed information on the causes of the contraction and relaxation of the stomach in response to stimulation of the sympathetic nerve. Recently, it has been reported that the gastric relaxation caused by vagal stimulation was non-adrenergic in origin (6, 7, 12-14). Therefore, in this paper the gastric responses to stimulation of the splanchnic and periarterial nerves and to close arterial injection of noradrenaline and isoproterenol were analysed comparatively using the autonomic blocking agents, together with the vagal gastric response serving as a control.
