The behaviour of the isolated water‐buffalo ureter

Abstract

Since Engelmann (1869) described the movements of ureters in laboratory animals it has been generally accepted that urine is carried straight through from the renal pelvis to the bladder with the aid of peristaltic waves. But Fuchs (1936), who observed the passage of urine stained with indigo carmine down the ureters of rabbits, concluded that upon occasion the ureter forms itself into a series of chambers separated by sphincters. Begg (1946) also holds that the existence of a fixed pattern of chambers in the human ureter is confirmed by the appearance of intravenous pyelograms.The ureter has a rich nerve supply and contains ganglia, but much work on nerve stimulation in the intact animal and on drug action on the isolated organ has not established a clear picture of the role played by the central nervous system in regulating ureteric activity. The subject is reviewed by Gruber (1933). Although most authorities accept the idea that the autonomic nervous system influences the ureter, at least one worker (Lapides, 1948) holds that the organ is entirely autonomous, and that its activity depends solely upon the amount of urine secreted by the kidney.This and the following paper report studies designed to determine how the ureter handles urine, and whether or not there is evidence that nervous influences play a role. This paper deals with experiments upon the isolated ureter of the water-buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis), and a second paper with experiments upon the intact ureter of dogs, rabbits and rats. METHODSUreters were obtained from water-buffalo immediately after slaughter and placed in chilled, oxygenated Krebs's bicarbonate solution (NaCl, 0-692%; KCI, 0.0354%; CaC12, 0-0282%; NaHCO3, 0-21%; KH2PO4, 0-0162%; MgSO4.7H20, 0-0294%; glucose, 0.2%) and carried to the laboratory in a Thermos flask. Upon arrival they were cleaned of attached tissue and sections 4-5 cm in length were cut from each end and the middle. These were mounted abreast in a single chamber of 320 ml. capacity within a Palmer's isolated organ-bath, and a thread from each 28 PHYSIO. CXXIX

The upper urinary tract.

“…Atropine has no effect on spontaneous contractions at doses which abolish contractions induced by acetylcholine. Most animals species investigated, including cat (Lucas, 1908), dog (Roth, 1917;Malin et al, 1968), pig (Longrigg, 1974a & b;Muschat, 1929), rabbit (Gosling & Waas, 1971), rat (Finberg & Peart, 1970) and water-buffalo (Gould et al, 1955), have been shown to possess excitatory a-adrenoceptors as in human tissue. Less consistent responses have been found when using f3-adrenoceptorand muscarinic-agonists.…”

“…Although the adrenoceptors do receive a functional innervation, there is no such innervation of the muscarinic receptors (Longrigg, 1974b). Other species such as dog 0306-5251 82/040461-08 $01.00 and water-buffalo have been shown to respond to muscarinic agonists although 'to a lesser degree than seen with a-adrenoceptor stimulation' (Gould et al, 1955;Malin et al, 1968).…”