Primary afferent response to signals in the intestinal lumen

The first recordings of vagal afferent nerve fibre activity were performed by Paintal in the early 1950s. In these experiments, he showed that phenyldiguanide (later recognized as a 5-HT3 receptor agonist) stimulated the firing of C-fibres innervating the intestine. In the following years, ample physiological and psychological studies have demonstrated the importance of afferent information arising from the gut in the regulation of gastrointestinal function and behaviour. Many stimuli are capable of eliciting these functional effects and of stimulating afferent fibre discharge, including mechanical, chemical, nutrient- and immune-derived stimuli. Studies in the last 10 years have begun to focus on the precise sensory transduction mechanisms by which these visceral primary afferent nerve terminals are activated and, like the contribution by Zhu et al. in this issue of The Journal of Physiology, are revealing some novel and exciting findings.