Anti-arrhythmic and anti-heart failure effects of low-level electrical stimulation on aortic root ventricular ganglionated plexi.

Background: It remains uncertain whether low-level electrical stimulation (LL-ES) of the ventricular ganglionated plexi (GP) improves heart function. This study investigated the anti-arrhythmic and anti-heart failure effects of LL-ES of the aortic root ventricular GP (ARVGP).

Methods: Thirty dogs were divided randomly into control, drug, and LL-ES groups after performing rapid right ventricular pacing to establish a heart failure (HF) model.

Nucleus tractus solitarius mediates hyperalgesia induced by chronic pancreatitis in rats.

Background: Central sensitization plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of chronic pain induced by chronic pancreatitis (CP). We hypothesized that the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), a primary central site that integrates pancreatic afferents apart from the thoracic spinal dorsal horn, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of visceral hypersensitivity in a rat model of CP.

Aim: To investigate the role of the NTS in the visceral hypersensitivity induced by chronic pancreatitis.

Anterior insular cortex mediates hyperalgesia induced by chronic pancreatitis in rats.

Central sensitization plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of chronic pain induced by chronic pancreatitis (CP), but cortical modulation of painful CP remains elusive. This study was designed to examine the role of anterior insular cortex (aIC) in the pathogenesis of hyperalgesia in a rat model of CP. CP was induced by intraductal administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS).