Date of Award

1-1-1986

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Physiology and Pharmacology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of high volt galvanic (HVG) stimulation on edema reduction and blood flow velocity (BFV) in the rat hindlimb. The effect of various blocking agents on BFV, blood pressure and heart rate following HVG stimulation was also tested.For the edema study, the animal's hindpaw was traumatized; and the animal was assigned to either the treated (n = 20) or control (n = 20) group. Paw volume measurements were made prior to the trauma, and before and after HVG stimulation.For the blood flow studies, a 20 MHz pulsed doppler device was used to measure BFV changes in the femoral artery of 20 anesthetized rats following HVG stimulation. The animals were stimulated under the following conditions: (1) four different pulse rates, (2) changes in stimulus voltage and (3) changes in polarity. BFV was also measured in the unstimulated hindlimb. The effect of HVG stimulation was tested before and after administration of propanolol, phenoxybenzamine, cimetidine and diphenhydramine.The results of the edema study showed that HVG stimulation did not have a significant effect on edema reduction, either over the whole treatment period or immediately following HVG treatment. The results of the BFV studies indicated that each of the four pulse rates caused significant increases in BFV, but the 20 pps rate produced BFV increases significantly greater than the other three. The BFV changes occurred in less than 1 min from the onset of stimulation and lasted up to 14 min following cessation of stimulation. The BFV increased with increases in voltage. Both the positive and negative poles elicited significant increases in BFV, but the negative pole produced the greatest increases. Blood flow velocity in the unstimulated limb was unchanged following stimulation.In the blocking studies, HVG stimulation produced significant increases in BFV and heart rate, but not blood pressure. Administration of the blocking agents did not affect the BFV, but had varying effects on the blood pressure and heart rate responses following stimulation. The increases in BFV following HVG stimulation were apparently not mediated via adrenergic or histaminergic receptors.

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