We studied the functional role and modulation of the hyperpolarization-activated inward current (I(h)) in the pyloric network of the lobster stomatogastric ganglion. In isolated neurons, I(h) is a small current with a hyperpolarized voltage of half-activation (V(Act)) and a slow time constant of activation (tau(Act)). Bath application of dopamine (DA), octopamine (OCT), or serotonin (5HT) modif...

1. The pylorus plays an important role in the regulation of gastric emptying. In addition to the autonomic neuropathy associated with long-standing diabetes, acute hyperglycaemia per se has effects on gastric emptying. In this study, the role of the central nervous system in modulating the effects of hyperglycaemia on gastric distension-induced pyloric relaxation was investigated. 2. Gastric di...

In a randomised trial comparing early enteral feeding by gastric and post-pyloric routes, White and colleagues have shown that gastric feeding is possible and efficient in the vast majority of critically ill patients. But the authors' conclusion that gastric is equivalent to post-pyloric is true in only the least severe patients. Given the extra workload and costs, post-pyloric is now clearly i...

Gastric outlet obstruction and in particular, pyloric stenosis, is relatively common in developing countries. Acute clinical presentation is often the manifestation of biochemical and electrolyte changes. The presence of metabolic alkalosis in combination with acute renal failure should alarm us to the possibility of adult pyloric stenosis. We report a case of adult pyloric stenosis that presen...

Rhythmically active neural networks can control the modulatory input that they receive via their synaptic effects onto modulatory neurons. This synaptic control of network modulation can occur presynaptically, at the axon terminals of the modulatory neuron. For example, in the crab stomatogastric ganglion (STG), a gastric mill network neuron presynaptically inhibits transmitter release from a m...

The well known rhythmically active pyloric neural network in intact and freely behaving lobsters Homarus gammarus was monitored prior to and following ecdysis. Despite long-lasting hormonal and metabolic alterations associated with this process, spontaneous pyloric network activity remained largely unaltered until the last 12-48 h before exuviation. At this time, the most notable change was a p...

INTRODUCTION Abdominal ultrasonography has replaced barium studies in establishing the diagnosis in difficult cases of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS). The aim of this retrospective study was to establish sonographic criteria of qualification for surgical treatment in children with IHPS. MATERIAL AND METHODS Hundred and fifteen infants (98 boys and 17 girls) with suspected IHPS...

Graded chemical synaptic transmission is important for establishing the motor patterns produced by the pyloric central pattern generator (CPG) circuit of the lobster stomatogastric ganglion (Raper, 1979; Anderson and Barker, 1981; Graubard et al., 1983). We examined the modulatory effects of the amines dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and octopamine (Oct) on graded synaptic transmission at all ...