The right-to-left shunt of crocodilians serves digestion

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology : PBZ
C G FarmerK Sanders

Abstract

Abstract All amniotes except birds and mammals have the ability to shunt blood past the lungs, but the physiological function of this ability is poorly understood. We studied the role of the shunt in digestion in juvenile American alligators in the following ways. First, we characterized the shunt in fasting and postprandial animals and found that blood was shunted past the lungs during digestion. Second, we disabled the shunt by surgically sealing the left aortic orifice in one group of animals, and we performed a sham surgery in another. We then compared postprandial rates of gastric acid secretion at body temperatures of 19 degrees and 27 degrees C and rates of digestion of bone at 27 degrees C. Twelve hours after eating, maximal rates of gastric acid secretion when measured at 19 degrees and 27 degrees C were significantly less in the disabled group than in sham-operated animals. Twenty-four hours postprandial, a significant decrease was found at 27 degrees C but not at 19 degrees C. For the first half of digestion, dissolution of cortical bone was significantly slower in the disabled animals. These data suggest the right-to-left shunt serves to retain carbon dioxide in the body so that it can be used by the gastrointestina...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Nov 6, 2010·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·John EmeJames W Hicks
May 25, 2011·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·Bjarke JensenTobias Wang
Jun 4, 2011·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·Michael Axelsson, Craig E Franklin
Apr 26, 2011·Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology·Edward M DzialowskiEduardo Villamor
Mar 31, 2009·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·Todd J UrionaC G Farmer
Jun 25, 2009·Journal of Morphology·Dane A Crossley, Warren W Burggren
May 22, 2009·Journal of Morphology·Devon E Quick, John A Ruben
Jun 29, 2011·Journal of Morphology·C G Farmer
Sep 4, 2013·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Bjarke JensenTobias Wang
Jul 19, 2011·Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology·Manuela N GardnerDavid R Jones
Oct 8, 2013·Scientific Reports·Sarah W KeenanRuth M Elsey
Dec 17, 2016·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Christian Lind MalteTobias Wang
Dec 20, 2008·Journal of Morphology·J Matthias Starck
Feb 23, 2019·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Justin L ConnerDane A Crossley
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Sep 23, 2018·Scientific Reports·Xiaoting ZhengXing Xu
Sep 28, 2018·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Bruce A YoungTatyana Kondrashova
Nov 30, 2020·Anatomia, histologia, embryologia·Mariana de Oliveira LimaMaria Aparecida da Silva
Mar 28, 2021·Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A, Ecological and Integrative Physiology·André G LopesAna L Kalinin

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