SYNOPSIS
Many studies have investigated the relationship between periodontal and cardiovascular diseases, particulaly myocardial infartiction (MI) and stroke. Pathological sympathetic overactivation and vagal withdrawal are thought to reduce the survival rate after acute MI (AMI). Electrical stimulation of aortic depressor nerve (ADN) decreases sympathetic nerve activity and increases vagal nerve activity via the arterial baroreflex pathway. We tested whether ADN stimulation improved the survival rate after AMI in rats. AMI was induced by ligating the left coronary artery. Two minutes after the ligation, 10-Hz stimulation of the intact left ADN was started and continued for 30-min in the treatment group, whereas no stimulation was performed in control group. The survival rate at 60 min after AMI was only 6.7 % in the control group, whereas it increased to 76.5 % in the treatment group. ADN stimulation markedly improved the survival rate of rats following AMI.

Key words:myocardial infarction, aortic depressor nerve, periodontal disease, vagal nerve