Gastrointestinal longitudinal muscle contractions

The patterns of longitudinal muscle contractions of the stomach and the small intestine and their relationship with circular muscle contractions during the fasting and the fed state were investigated in conscious dogs. In the stomach, the longitudinal muscle contracted in a 1:1 relationship with the circular muscle contractions. There was no significant difference between the frequency, duration, and time of onset of gastric longitudinal and circular muscle contractions, and their amplitudes were significantly correlated with each other. In the small intestine when the circular muscle contracted, the longitudinal muscle exhibited passive elongation during the fasting and the fed state. There was no significant difference between the onset, duration, and frequency of small intestinal circular muscle contractions and the passive longitudinal muscle elongations; their amplitudes were strongly correlated with each other. During a circular muscle giant migrating contraction, the longitudinal muscle exhibited a monophasic contraction, initially a contraction followed by passive elongation or a pure passive elongation. During a retrograde giant contraction, the longitudinal muscle exhibited only a pure monophasic contraction or a contraction- elongation complex. These data suggest that the enteric nerves in the small intestine innervate the two muscle layers in a reciprocal fashion and those in the stomach in a complementary fashion.