AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 247, Issue 6 703-G708, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society
Effect of somatovisceral reflexes and selective dermatomal stimulation on postcibal antral pressure activity
M. Camilleri, J. R. Malagelada, P. C. Kao and A. R. Zinsmeister
Our objective was to elicit and characterize somatogastric reflexes in
healthy humans. Sustained somatic stimulation by transcutaneous electrical
nerve stimulation (TENS) was applied to the skin of human volunteers while
simultaneously monitoring their upper gastrointestinal phasic pressure
activity, extraintestinal vasomotor indices, and plasma levels of putative
humoral mediators of autonomic reflexes. Stimuli were applied either to the
hand (C8-T1) or to the upper abdomen (T5-T10) to determine whether impulses
at these two dermatomes produce different effects on fed antral phasic
pressure activity. TENS resulted in significant reduction (P = 0.007) in
antral motility index when applied to the hand and abdomen as compared with
sham stimulation. This was associated with an increase in skin conductance
and plasma beta-endorphin levels but no change in pulse, blood pressure, or
circulating catecholamine levels. No qualitative changes in proximal
intestinal pressure activity were detected. Sustained somatic stimuli
resulted in reduced postprandial antral phasic pressure activity. The
similarity of the responses to TENS applied to the hand and abdominal
dermatomes suggests that the induced somatovisceral responses relay
predominantly at the cerebral level.
