[Integration of the effects of a single stimulus applied to the vagus nerve on the right and the left, in the rabbit heart].

It was reported by the literature that a train stimulation, simultaneously delivered on the two vagi, resulted in a decrement of the negative chronotropic effect, when it was compared to the sum of the effects obtained by the stimulation of the two nerves, separately. Our data indicate that the size of the chronotropic effect obtained by the simultaneous application on the two vagi of a single supraliminar stimulus, randomly applied within the P-P cycle, in rabbits, can be equal, higher or lower than the sum of the same stimulation separately delivered to the two nerves. The results could depend upon the different amount of acetylcholine released during stimulation. The hypothesis is put forward that different patterns of the neuro-cardiac junction regulation might be activated according to the quantity of released neuromediator.