Changes in the reactivity of the intrinsic nervous system of the stomach to hexamethonium after transthoracic vagotomy.

Experiments were carried out on seven breedless dogs with chronically implanted electrodes in the stomach. The effect of hexamethonium (in doses of 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 mg/kg, i. v.) on the migrating myoelectrical complex (MMC) was studied before and after transthoracic vagotomy. Injected on the background of the first MMC phase, hexamethonium in doses of up to 2 mg/kg induces the appearance of spike potentials (SP). Applied on the background of spike activity, hexamethonium induces the appearance of spike activity of the type of the 3rd MMC phase. In a dose exceeding 2 mg/kg, introduced during SP activity, hexamethonium interrupts for different periods of time the SP generation and shortens the duration of the active MMC phases. On the background of increased spike activity characteristic of the stomach after vagotomy, 3 mg/kg hexamethonium have almost no effect on the electrical activity, whereas 10 mg/kg only reduce the percentage of slow waves accompanied by SP. It is probably that after vagotomy the excitability of the intrinsic nerve cells is increased, therefore even the high doses of the ganglionic blocker hexamethonium cannot inhibit entirely the active phases of MMC.