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Physiology

An actively controlled heart valve

Nature volume 406, pages 847–848 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Vertebrate hearts typically have cardiac valves that are thin and leaf-like and which work passively, allowing blood to move forward during systole and preventing it from flowing back during diastole. Crocodilian hearts have nodules of connective tissue, resembling opposing knuckles, or cog-teeth1,2,3, in the subpulmonary conus just proximal to the pulmonary valves. Here we show that these cog-teeth act in the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus (Fig. 1) as a valve that regulates the flow of blood between the lungs and the systemic circulation in response to a β-adrenergic mechanism. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an actively controlled intra-cardiac valve in a vertebrate.

FRANK LANE PICTURE AGENCY/CORBIS

The estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus has an unusual valve inside its heart that can shunt blood away from the lungs.

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Figure 2: The ‘cog-teeth’ valve inside the heart of crocodilians and the flow and resistance from a perfused Crocodylus porosus heart preparation6.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Craig E. Franklin

  2. Department of Zoophysiology, University of Göteborg, PO Box 463, Göteborg, 405 30, Sweden

    Michael Axelsson

Authors
  1. Craig E. Franklin
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  2. Michael Axelsson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Craig E. Franklin.

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Franklin, C., Axelsson, M. An actively controlled heart valve. Nature 406, 847–848 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35022652

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