An excitatory body-antral reflex in the sheep abomasum

This paper describes an abomasal body-antral excitatory reflex in acute experiments in sheep anaesthetized with chloralose. The abomasum was either surgically intact or acutely transected to form separate compartments of the abomasal body and antrum. Inflation of a balloon situated in the abomasal body and active contraction of the abomasal body increased the amplitude of antral contraction. In the intact preparation, inflation of the abomasal body increased the amplitude of antral contraction before and after extrinsic denervation. The antral response was reduced by 75% after extrinsic denervation. In the acutely transected preparation, inflation of the abomasal body and electrically induced contraction of the abomasal body also increased antral contraction amplitude. The antral response was abolished by bilateral section of the cervical vagus nerves in five of six experiments. Selective extrinsic neurotomy of either compartment abolished all responses. It was concluded that the neural mechanisms controlling abomasal motility in the sheep resemble those found in species with simple stomachs: excitation of in-series tension receptors of the abomasal body causes an increase in antral contraction amplitude by vago-vagal reflex pathways. Antral motility is also modulated by changes of tension in the abomasal body by intrinsic reflex pathways and reflexes involving abdominal preganglia may also be present. In a restricted number of experiments the splanchnic nerve was shown to play an important role.