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Nerve—Muscle Preparations of the Small Intestine

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Smooth Muscle

Abstract

An isolated segment of small intestine is one of the commonest test preparations used by pharmacologists. Since the integrity of the plexuses of nerve cells within the wall of the intestine is preserved under normal conditions, segments of intestine must always be considered as “nerve-muscle” preparations. The aim of this section is to review, very briefly, the innervation of the small intestine and to draw attention to the difficulties involved in analyzing the action of drugs on this complex system (see also Kosterlitz and Lees, 1964; Daniel, 1968). A useful source of background material can be found in theHandbook of Physiology published by the American Physiological Society (Code, 1968).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Mollie E. Holman

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Edwin E. Daniel  & David M. Paton  & 

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Holman, M.E. (1975). Nerve—Muscle Preparations of the Small Intestine. In: Daniel, E.E., Paton, D.M. (eds) Smooth Muscle. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2751-6_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2751-6_19

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