Evidence for cardiac volume-receptor regulation of feline jejunal blood flow and fluid transport.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of cardiac mechanoreceptors in the reflex regulation of intestinal blood flow and fluid transport. Feline cardiac mechanoreceptor activity was modified with two noninvasive techniques: positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) and inspiratory resistance breathing (IRB). A jejunal segment with intact vascular and nervous supply was isolated and exposed to cholera toxin as a model for intestinal secretion. The results revealed that PPV induced a pronounced intestinal vasoconstriction and a marked inhibition of choleraic secretion. IRB had the opposite effects. The responses were well correlated with changes in central blood volume and either markedly reduced or abolished by vagotomy, intestinal alpha-adrenoreceptor blockade, or postganglionic mesenteric denervation. The results indicate that cardiac mechanoreceptors with vagal afferents may mediate the observed reflex responses, and hence this receptor station may be of importance in the normal reflex control of intestinal hemodynamics and fluid transport.