Summary
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1.
One hundred and twenty two receptor afferents which discharged in response to an intraarterial injection of 20 μg of phenyl diguanide were dissected from 72 isolated perfused gills of the spiny dogfish,Squalus acanthias: the mean spontaneous discharge rate at 13°C was 0.4±0.5 impulses·s−1. The maximum discharge rate in response to an injection of PDG was 10.5±7.5 imps.·s−1: the discharge persisted for 56.8±44.3 s. Discharge also occurred in response to an injection of 20 μg of 5 hydroxytryptamine.
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2.
Many of the receptors could also be discharged by 1 mm2 pieces of dry filter paper previously soaked in PDG, placed on the external surface of the gill filaments.
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3.
The receptors were sensitive to light mechanical stimulation of the gill filaments; some parts of receptive fields which respond to mechanical stimulation failed to discharge in response to externally applied PDG.
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4.
Receptive fields varied in extent; some occupied less than one filament and others extended over several filaments.
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5.
Intra-arterial injections of 10 mg alloxan caused a rise in perfusion pressure and the development of a patchy oedema. At varying intervals following the rise of pressure the receptors commenced a prolonged slow discharge; many but not all also showed a brief short-latency discharge in response to the chemical stimulus of alloxan.
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6.
The many resemblances of these gill receptors to the type J and lung irritant receptors of mammals are discussed: it is suggested that they are unspecialised nociceptors of the gills and resemble the kind of structures from which the more differentiated mammalian respiratory nociceptors of alveolus and airway have been derived.
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Abbreviations
- PDG :
-
phenyl diguanide
- type T receptors :
-
juxtapulmonary capillary receptors
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Poole, C.A., Satchell, G.H. Nociceptors in the gills of the dogfishSqualus acanthias . J. Comp. Physiol. 130, 1–7 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02582968
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02582968