Ventricular nociception induced vesicular motility and urine flow: their relationship

Heart acts as an important reflexogenic organ. Reflex urination and defaecation are two of the most important visceral symptoms observed in patients with myocardial ischaemia, infarction etc. In experimental animals also ventricular nociceptor stimulation by left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion and nicotine application causes biphasic changes in urinary bladder movement and urine flow. Aim of the present study is to elucidate if there is any correlation between urine formation by the kidneys and movement of the urinary ladder under such experimental conditions. The experiments performed on intact cats show apparent coincidence of the two events. But, subsequent experiments following denervation of vagi and inferior cardiac nerve (ICN), spinal transaction and decerebration experiments indicate that these two are separate events. Further, experiments with different neurotransmitter blockers indicate that ventricular nocieptor induced urine formation and urinary bladder movements are two separate reflex responses and not dependent on each other.