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. 1998 Jun;21(3):100-13.

Assessment of the visceral afferent and autonomic pathways in response to esophageal stimulation in control subjects and in patients with diabetes

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  • PMID: 9627764

Assessment of the visceral afferent and autonomic pathways in response to esophageal stimulation in control subjects and in patients with diabetes

M V Kamath et al. Clin Invest Med. 1998 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of esophageal stimulation on vagal afferent and efferent pathways in volunteers without diabetes and patients with diabetes.

Design: Prospective physiological study.

Participants: Fourteen control subjects without diabetes and 6 patients with diabetes.

Interventions: Electrical and mechanical stimulation of the esophagus.

Outcome measures: Cortical evoked potentials and the power spectra of heart rate variability.

Results: For the control subjects, there was a significant decrease in the ratio of the low frequency to high frequency (LF:HF) power (i.e., increased vagal efferent modulation) during stimulation. Reproducible cortical evoked potentials were obtained from all control subjects. In the 6 patients with diabetes, who had viscerosensory and autonomic neuropathy, the cortical evoked potentials showed an erratic non-reproducible response to electrical esophageal stimulation; however, the LF:HF ratio decreased in these patients during stimulation, suggesting an intact subcortical reflex circuit.

Conclusions: Vago-afferent fibres can be studied using minimally invasive techniques, and the power spectral analysis of heart rate variability permits study of autonomic vago-efferent pathways.

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