G Pasterkampand RLAW Bleys Author
Research Article Open Access
Author(s): MGJ Nederhoff*, SAMW Verlinde, T van Zuuren, G Pasterkamp and RLAW Bleys
Introduction
Autonomic regulation of immune functions has increasingly been studied in recent decades. The attenuating effect of the parasympathetic nervous system on inflammatory processes is demonstrated in studies on inflammatory disease like rheumatoid arthritis, chronic bowel disease and heart failure. Similar inflammatory processes play a role in the development of tissue damage following myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VS) on tissue damage and function loss after MI in the mouse heart were measured.
Methods
Anaesthetized male C57Bl6 mice were treated with or without 30 seconds of VS prior to experimental MI. Baseline and terminal heart function were studied. After 48 hours animals were sacrificed and infarct s... view moreĀ»