scholarly journals Caspase lesions of PVN-projecting MnPO neurons block the sustained component of CIH-induced hypertension in adult male rats

2020 ◽  
Vol 318 (1) ◽  
pp. H34-H48
Author(s):  
Alexandria B. Marciante ◽  
Lei A. Wang ◽  
Joel T. Little ◽  
J. Thomas Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Chronic Hypertension ◽  
Pressure Regulation ◽  
Neurogenic Hypertension ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Induced Hypertension

Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by interrupted breathing that leads to cardiovascular sequelae including chronic hypertension that can persist into the waking hours. Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), which models the hypoxemia associated with sleep apnea, is sufficient to cause a sustained increase in blood pressure that involves the central nervous system. The median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) is an integrative forebrain region that contributes to blood pressure regulation and neurogenic hypertension. The MnPO projects to the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a preautonomic region. We hypothesized that pathway-specific lesions of the projection from the MnPO to the PVN would attenuate the sustained component of chronic intermittent hypoxia-induced hypertension. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (250–300 g) were anesthetized with isoflurane and stereotaxically injected bilaterally in the PVN with a retrograde Cre-containing adeno-associated virus (AAV; AAV9.CMV.HI.eGFP-Cre.WPRE.SV40) and injected in the MnPO with caspase-3 (AAV5-flex-taCasp3-TEVp) or control virus (AAV5-hSyn-DIO-mCherry). Three weeks after the injections the rats were exposed to a 7-day intermittent hypoxia protocol. During chronic intermittent hypoxia, controls developed a diurnal hypertension that was blunted in rats with caspase lesions. Brain tissue processed for FosB immunohistochemistry showed decreased staining with caspase-induced lesions of MnPO and downstream autonomic-regulating nuclei. Chronic intermittent hypoxia significantly increased plasma levels of advanced oxidative protein products in controls, but this increase was blocked in caspase-lesioned rats. The results indicate that PVN-projecting MnPO neurons play a significant role in blood pressure regulation in the development of persistent chronic intermittent hypoxia hypertension. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Chronic intermittent hypoxia associated with obstructive sleep apnea increases oxidative stress and leads to chronic hypertension. Sustained hypertension may be mediated by angiotensin II-induced neural plasticity of excitatory median preoptic neurons in the forebrain that project to the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Selective caspase lesions of these neurons interrupt the drive for sustained hypertension and cause a reduction in circulating oxidative protein products. This indicates that a functional connection between the forebrain and hypothalamus is necessary to drive diurnal hypertension associated with intermittent hypoxia. These results provide new information about central mechanisms that may contribute to neurogenic hypertension.

scholarly journals Intermittent hypoxia in utero damages postnatal growth and cardiovascular function in rats

2018 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Chen ◽  
Zahra Heidari Zadi ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Steven M. Scharf ◽  
Eung-Kwon Pae
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Cardiovascular Function ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Tibial Length ◽  
Obstructive Sleep

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in pregnancy and may compromise fetal and even postnatal development. We developed an animal model to determine if maternal OSA could have lasting effects in offspring. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to reduced ambient O2 from 21 to 4–5%, approximately once per minute [chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH)] for 8 h/day during gestation days 3–19. Similarly handled animals exposed to ambient air served as controls (HC). Offspring were studied for body growth and cardiovascular function for 8 postnatal weeks. Compared with HC, prenatal CIH led to growth restriction, indicated by smaller body weight and tibial length, and higher arterial blood pressure in both male and female offspring. Compared with same-sex HC, CIH males showed abdominal obesity (greater ratio of abdominal fat weight to body weight or tibial length), left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (greater heart weight-to-tibial length ratio and LV posterior wall diastolic thickness), elevated LV contractility (increases in LV ejection fraction, end-systolic pressure-volume relations, and preload recruitable stroke work), elevated LV and arterial stiffness (increased end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship and arterial elasticity), and LV oxidative stress (greater lipid peroxide content). Compared with female CIH offspring, male CIH offspring had more profound changes in blood pressure (BP), cardiac function, myocardial lipid peroxidase (LPO) content, and abdominal adiposity. Rodent prenatal CIH exposure, mimicking human maternal OSA, exerts detrimental morphological and cardiovascular effects on developing offspring; the model may provide useful insights of OSA effects in humans. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Obstructive sleep apnea is common in human pregnancy. Following maternal exposure to chronic intermittent hypoxia, a hallmark of sleep apnea, both sexes of rat offspring showed growth retardation, with males being more vulnerable to hypertension and dysfunctional left ventricular changes. This model is useful to study detrimental effects of maternal obstructive sleep apnea on developing offspring in humans.

Invited Review: Physiological consequences of intermittent hypoxia: systemic blood pressure

2001 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 1600-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene C. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Cardiovascular Response ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Renin Angiotensin System ◽  
Systemic Blood Pressure ◽  
Angiotensin Ii Receptor ◽  
Obstructive Sleep

One of the major manifestations of obstructive sleep apnea is profound and repeated hypoxia during sleep. Acute hypoxia leads to stimulation of the peripheral chemoreceptors, which in turn increases sympathetic outflow, acutely increasing blood pressure. The chronic effect of these repeated episodic or intermittent periods of hypoxia in humans is difficult to study because chronic cardiovascular changes may take many years to manifest. Rodents have been a tremendous source of information in short- and long-term studies of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Recurrent short cycles of normoxia-hypoxia, when administered to rats for 35 days, allows examination of the chronic cardiovascular response to intermittent hypoxia patterned after the episodic desaturation seen in humans with sleep apnea. The result of this type of intermittent hypoxia in rats is a 10- to 14-mmHg increase in resting (unstimulated) mean blood pressure that lasts for several weeks after cessation of the daily cyclic hypoxia. Carotid body denervation, sympathetic nerve ablation, renal sympathectomy, adrenal medullectomy, and angiotensin II receptor blockade block the blood pressure increase. It appears that adrenergic and renin-angiotensin system overactivity contributes to the early chronic elevated blood pressure in rat intermittent hypoxia and perhaps to human hypertension associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

scholarly journals Atrial arrhythmias and autonomic dysfunction in rats exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxia

2018 ◽  
Vol 314 (6) ◽  
pp. H1160-H1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L. Bober ◽  
John Ciriello ◽  
Douglas L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Receptor Protein ◽  
Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Programmed Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Protein Levels ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Atrial Vulnerability

Obstructive sleep apnea, which involves chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), is a major risk factor for developing atrial fibrillation (AF). Whether or not CIH alone alters cardiac mechanisms to support AF is unknown. This study investigated the effects of CIH on atrial electrophysiology and arrhythmia vulnerability and evaluated the role of autonomics in CIH promotion of AF. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 8 h/day of CIH or normoxia for 7 days. After exposure, rats were anesthetized for intracardiac electrophysiological experiments. Atrial effective refractory periods (AERPs) and AF inducibility were determined using programmed electrical stimulation and burst pacing in the absence and presence of autonomic receptor agonists and antagonists. Western blot analysis measured atrial protein expression of muscarinic M2, M3, and β1-adrenergic receptors. Compared with normoxia-exposed control rats, CIH-exposed rats had enhanced AF vulnerability using both programmed electrical stimulation and burst pacing, accompanied by greater AERP responses to carbachol and propranolol, lesser responses to isoproterenol, and higher atrial M2 receptor protein levels. Enhanced atrial vulnerability was accentuated by carbachol and abolished by atropine, indicating that the AF-promoting effects of CIH depended principally on parasympathetic activation. Enhancement of atrial vulnerability and AERP shortening with cholinergic agonists in CIH-exposed rats is consistent with sensitivity to parasympathetic activation. Higher responses to adrenergic receptor blockade in CIH-exposed rats is consistent with sympathetic potentiation. These findings implicate CIH as an important mediator of enhanced AF susceptibility in obstructive sleep apnea and provide novel insights into the underlying mechanisms. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our study demonstrates, for the first time, that chronic intermittent hypoxia alone enhances vulnerability to atrial arrhythmia induction, which depends principally on parasympathetic activation. Enhanced atrial vulnerability was accompanied by heightened electrophysiological responses of the atrial myocardium to carbachol and isoproterenol, dampened responses to propranolol, and increased atrial M2 receptor protein levels.

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