BACKGROUND Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) is used for pain relief during and after abdominal surgery, but the effect of TEA on the splanchnic microcirculation remains debated. We evaluated whether TEA affects splanchnic microcirculation in the pig. METHODS Splanchnic microcirculation was assessed in nine pigs prior to and 15 and 30 min after induction of TEA. Regional blood flow was assess...

Gastric mucosa exhibits the ability to adapt to ulcerogenic action of aspirin but the mechanism of this phenomenon is unknown. In this study, acute gastric lesions were produced by single or repeated doses of acidified aspirin in rats with intact or resected salivary glands and with intact or suppressed synthase of nitric oxide. A single oral dose of aspirin produced a dose dependent increase i...

the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential responses of the cardiovascular system and regional blood flow to hypoxic hypoxia (bb) and to carbon monoxide (co)-induced hypoxia (coh). ten anesthetized cats were studied under two nonnoxic (control: cont) and two hypoxic conditions. four types of radioactive micro spheres were used to measure regional blood flow during cont and two h...

An experimental model was used which includes intragastric instillation of 80 mM HCl and 0.6 ml bile/kg followed by intravenous infusion of live E coli in cats for up to three hours. This procedure regularly induces gastric mucosal ulcerations. Mucosal blood flow was measured by microspheres before, early, and late in sepsis. Total gastric blood flow was recorded electromagnetically. Mucosal re...

The ability of leukotrienes derived from eicosapentaenoic acid were compared with counterpart leukotrienes derived from arachidonic acid in terms of their ability to affect susceptibility of the stomach to injury induced by a topical irritant and their ability to alter gastric blood flow. Intra-arterial infusion of leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and LTD4 (0.1-3 micrograms/kg/min for 5 min) produced dose...

Salivary nitrate from dietary or endogenous sources is reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria. In the acidic stomach, nitrite is further reduced to bioactive nitrogen oxides, including nitric oxide (NO). In this study, we investigated the gastroprotective role of nitrate intake and of luminally applied nitrite against provocation with diclofenac and taurocholate. Mucosal permeability ((51)Cr-EDTA ...

This study was done to examine the role of CCK in gastric mucosal defense and to assess the gastroprotective roles of nitric oxide and blood flow. In rats, the CCK secretagogues oleate and soybean trypsin inhibitor augmented gastric mucosal blood flow and prevented gastric injury from luminal irritants. Type A CCK receptor blockade negated CCK secretagogue-induced gastroprotection and exacerbat...

Salivary nitrate from dietary or endogenous sources is reduced to nitrite by oral bacteria. In the acidic stomach, nitrite is further reduced to NO and related compounds, which have potential biological activity. We used an in vivo rat model as a bioassay to test effects of human saliva on gastric mucosal blood flow and mucus thickness. Gastric mucosal blood flow and mucus thickness were measur...