LE3 .A278 2004

2004

Toews, Dan

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Early investigations into lymph hearts had established that their contractions were neither synchronous with the systemic heart, lungs, nor each other. However, recent studies have concluded that there exists a synchronization between the cardiac heart and lymph hearts of the aquatic anuran, Rana catesbeiana, and synchronization of the posterior lymph hearts. This study investigates the degree of bilateral lymph heart synchrony, as well as cardiac heart to lymph heart synchrony, in the terrestrial anuran, Bufo marinus, in order to establish the degree of synchronization in the toad lymphatic system. Recorded pressure peaks were produced through surgical cannulation of the ischiatic artery and each posterior lymph heart, and subsequently analyzed to determine time differences between arterial diastole and lymph heart systole, or between two bilateral lymph heart systoles. Results show that there is a definite synchronization between the lymph heart systoles of two bilateral posterior lymph hearts. The findings of cardiac to lymph heart synchrony also support a degree of synchronization, even though the lymph hearts beat up to three times as fast as the cardiac heart. These results support that synchrony is characteristic of the anuran lymphatic system, and that synchronization of the cardiac heart and lymph heart could impart an energetic advantage that benefits homeostatic mechanisms and may indicate shared neural control of the cardiac and lymphatic systems.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:422