[Effects of efferent vagus nerve excitation on inflammatory response in heart tissue in rats with endotoxemia].
OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of electrical stimulation of efferent vagus nerve on the inflammatory response in heart tissue in rats with endotoxemia.


METHODS
Two hundred and ten Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups. Animals were subjected to bilateral cervical vagotomy, or a comparable sham surgical procedure in which the vagus nerves were isolated but not transected. The distal end of a vagus nerve trunk was placed across bipolar electrodes connected to a stimulation module and controlled by an acquisition system. Stimuli with constant voltage (5 V, 2 ms, 1 Hz) were applied to the nerve for 20 minutes immediately after administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 mg/kg, E coli O111: B4, Sigma), and then were repeated 2 times after each of 10 minutes interval. Blood and tissue samples of these rats were collected at 1, 1.5 and 2 hours after LPS administration in all groups. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in heart tissue and serum MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase(CK-MB) were determined.


RESULTS
The electrical stimulation of the efferent vagus nerve significantly decreased the contents of TNF-alpha and MPO in heart tissue and CK-MB in serum, and alleviated myocardial inflammation in heart tissue at all time points, especially at 1.5 hours after endotoxin challenge.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that excitation of the efferent vagus nerve can significantly alleviate the inflammatory response in the heart tissue, thus it might produce a potential protective effect on the heart during endotoxemia in rats.
Shi
De-guang
DG
Burn Institute, 304th Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100037, China.
Hu
Sen
S
Jiang
Xiao-guo
XG
Sun
Dan
D
Jin
Hua
H
Li
Jun-you
JY
Liu
Qi-lin
QL
Sheng
Zhi-yong
ZY
D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019446:Endotoxemia / Q000473:pathology*; D007249:Inflammation; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha