Acta Physiol 2015, 213, 346
Editorial Preface to ‘Electrical propagation in smooth muscle organs’ In biomedical research, scientists have been very successful by focusing on a particular organ system or mechanism for most of their career. Others have reached breakthroughs by shifting gears applying the technologies they developed over the years in a broader perspective, for example in a different set of organs. A good example of bringing technical developments in a broader perspective is Leroy Hood. At the Californian Institute of Technology, he and his colleagues developed a series of groundbreaking technologies in genomics and proteomics that actually formed the foundation for science in these areas. From the early nineties of the past century on, he did not stick to further technological developments, but used them in cross-disciplinary biology and in systems biology, making these new areas of science a great success in the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle (Hood 2013). In the present special issue of the Acta Physiologica on a topic that generally does get too little attention in physiology, another example of the second category can be found. Despite the fact that from early on, as clearly described in several of the contributions in this issue, electrical activation of the digestive tract and the pelvic organs has been described with some detail, important insights were not obtained before the introduction of high-resolution mapping of electrical activation patterns. This method has been in use in cardiac electrophysiology to study cardiac arrhythmias for several decades. Wim Lammers, one of the initiators of this special issue got a PhD in cardiac electrophysiology at Maastricht University in 1987, using personally developed high-resolution mapping in his studies. When moving to the United Arabic Emirate University in 1988, he started to use this mapping approach in studies on the electrical activation of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract and in pelvic organs. His seminal approach was soon followed by other investigators in the field. The high-resolution mapping has not only led to better insights into the physiological electrical activation patterns of these organs, distinguishing, for example, between longitudinal and circular activation in the gut, but also into pathology. In several of the organ systems under investigation re-entry of electrical activation and arrhythmias, as in the heart, could be detected. Yet, interesting deviations in the electrical activation patterns have been observed in diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, raising the question as to whether these deviations could, for example, explain the clinical gastrointestinal 346
symptoms as observed in these patients. These observations demonstrate that new technologies are not only developed to solve problems, but they also may generate new scientific questions, as indicated by Hendrik Casimir already years ago (Casimir 1983). An important breakthrough is the subsequent application of high-resolution mapping in the clinical setting, allowing the verification of pre-clinical observations in man. The detailed information as collected in animals and man so far has also led to modelling of the electrical activation patterns in the stomach with emphasis on slow wave activation and modulation as briefly described by Leo Cheng in this issue. A major challenge for the years to come is to answer the important question: ‘what are the mechanical consequences of these observations in electrical activation for the functional performance of the digestive tract and pelvic organs in health and disease?’ This especially concerns the arrhythmias in electrical activation as observed in diseases. A start on describing the mechanical performance of the digestive tract has been made by Konrad Schulze in his contribution to this special issue. Using a computational fluid dynamic approach, he provides insight into the forces promoting digestion, important observations certainly needing confirmation in vivo. It is of interest to note that also in his study use is made of methodology common in other areas of physiology. I congratulate Acta Physiologica by taking the initiative to publish a special issue on an orphan area in physiology.
Conflict of interests There are no conflict of interests.
Robert S. Reneman Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] References Casimir, H. 1983. Hap Hazard Reality. Half a Century of Science. Harper and Row, New York. Hood, L. 2013. Systems biology and p4 medicine: past, present and future. Rambam Maimonides Med J 41, 1–2.
© 2014 Scandinavian Physiological Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, doi: 10.1111/apha.12433
Copyright of Acta Physiologica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Editorial Preface to ‘Electrical propagation in smooth muscle organs’ In biomedical research, scientists have been very successful by focusing on a particular organ system or mechanism for most of their career. Others have reached breakthroughs by shifting gears applying the technologies they developed over the years in a broader perspective, for example in a different set of organs. A good example of bringing technical developments in a broader perspective is Leroy Hood. At the Californian Institute of Technology, he and his colleagues developed a series of groundbreaking technologies in genomics and proteomics that actually formed the foundation for science in these areas. From the early nineties of the past century on, he did not stick to further technological developments, but used them in cross-disciplinary biology and in systems biology, making these new areas of science a great success in the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle (Hood 2013). In the present special issue of the Acta Physiologica on a topic that generally does get too little attention in physiology, another example of the second category can be found. Despite the fact that from early on, as clearly described in several of the contributions in this issue, electrical activation of the digestive tract and the pelvic organs has been described with some detail, important insights were not obtained before the introduction of high-resolution mapping of electrical activation patterns. This method has been in use in cardiac electrophysiology to study cardiac arrhythmias for several decades. Wim Lammers, one of the initiators of this special issue got a PhD in cardiac electrophysiology at Maastricht University in 1987, using personally developed high-resolution mapping in his studies. When moving to the United Arabic Emirate University in 1988, he started to use this mapping approach in studies on the electrical activation of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract and in pelvic organs. His seminal approach was soon followed by other investigators in the field. The high-resolution mapping has not only led to better insights into the physiological electrical activation patterns of these organs, distinguishing, for example, between longitudinal and circular activation in the gut, but also into pathology. In several of the organ systems under investigation re-entry of electrical activation and arrhythmias, as in the heart, could be detected. Yet, interesting deviations in the electrical activation patterns have been observed in diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, raising the question as to whether these deviations could, for example, explain the clinical gastrointestinal 346
symptoms as observed in these patients. These observations demonstrate that new technologies are not only developed to solve problems, but they also may generate new scientific questions, as indicated by Hendrik Casimir already years ago (Casimir 1983). An important breakthrough is the subsequent application of high-resolution mapping in the clinical setting, allowing the verification of pre-clinical observations in man. The detailed information as collected in animals and man so far has also led to modelling of the electrical activation patterns in the stomach with emphasis on slow wave activation and modulation as briefly described by Leo Cheng in this issue. A major challenge for the years to come is to answer the important question: ‘what are the mechanical consequences of these observations in electrical activation for the functional performance of the digestive tract and pelvic organs in health and disease?’ This especially concerns the arrhythmias in electrical activation as observed in diseases. A start on describing the mechanical performance of the digestive tract has been made by Konrad Schulze in his contribution to this special issue. Using a computational fluid dynamic approach, he provides insight into the forces promoting digestion, important observations certainly needing confirmation in vivo. It is of interest to note that also in his study use is made of methodology common in other areas of physiology. I congratulate Acta Physiologica by taking the initiative to publish a special issue on an orphan area in physiology.
Conflict of interests There are no conflict of interests.
Robert S. Reneman Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] References Casimir, H. 1983. Hap Hazard Reality. Half a Century of Science. Harper and Row, New York. Hood, L. 2013. Systems biology and p4 medicine: past, present and future. Rambam Maimonides Med J 41, 1–2.
© 2014 Scandinavian Physiological Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, doi: 10.1111/apha.12433
Copyright of Acta Physiologica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
