AFFERENT NERVOUS DISCHARGE FROM THE CANINE LIVER

¹ Department of Physiology, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Afferent action potentials were recorded from dissected strands of divided hepatic nerves in the dog. Stimulation of sensory receptors could be produced by (a) injection of sodium cyanide into the hepatic circulation; (b) occlusion of the posterior vena cava, with resultant hepatic congestion; (c) mechanical increase of biliary pressure. Injection of acetylcholine into the hepatic circulation usually led to a profuse discharge in the hepatic nerves which, in some experiments, provoked an arterial pressor response, related temporally to the action potentials. Many hepatic nerves exhibited an abundant afferent resting discharge, but the nature of the receptors responsible was not determined.

Note:

The work was supported by the Standing Advisory Committee for Medical Research in the British Caribbean. We are very grateful to Professor E. Neil who helped initiate the research and who has given much helpful advice and criticism.

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