Inhibition of reticulo-ruminal motility by volatile fatty acids and lactic acid in sheep.

1. A study was made of the influence on reticulo-ruminal motility, recorded by electromyography, of ruminal infusions of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and lactic acid in twenty-four sheep maintained by intragastric infusion of a complete liquid diet, in three sheep fed grass pellets, and in nine chronically vagotomized sheep; abomasal and duodenal infusions of VFA and lactic acid were tested in five sheep fed grass pellets. 2. Ruminal infusions of VFAs and lactic acid progressively inhibited the amplitude of the reticulo-ruminal contractions. In many experiments there was no effect on contraction frequency until the cessation of all reticulo-ruminal contractions at which point the maximal concentration of VFA recorded in the abomasum was 28 mM, and that of lactic acid was 20 mM. 3. The concentrations of undissociated VFAs causing cessation of reticulo-ruminal contractions in the vagus-intact sheep were very similar to the concentrations causing abolition of the organized intrinsic motility of the chronically vagotomized sheep. 4. The inhibition of reticulo-ruminal motility with ruminal infusions of mixtures of VFAs and of lactic acid together with VFAs could largely be explained by the sum of the effects of the individual acids present. 5. Abomasal infusion of VFA or lactic acid inhibited the amplitude of ruminal, especially primary ruminal, contractions at concentrations of undissociated acid of 60 mM and above and increased the frequency of reticulum and primary ruminal contractions at about 80 mM. 6. Duodenal infusion of VFAs and lactic acid (100 mM, 5 ml/min) strongly inhibited abomasal motility without affecting reticulo-ruminal motility, and at a higher rate (100 mM, 10 ml/min) abolished motility and inhibited both the amplitude and frequency of reticulo-ruminal contractions. 7. It is concluded that the initial inhibition of reticulo-ruminal motility in ruminal acidosis is unlikely to involve any significant influence from duodenal, or abomasal receptors. The final cessation of reticulo-ruminal motility with ruminal acidosis could involve local effects of VFAs in the reticulo-rumen as well as through excitation of acid-sensitive reticulo-ruminal receptors.