Alterations in sympathetic neurovascular transduction during acute hypoxia in humans

2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (11) ◽  
pp. R959-R965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Ozan Tan ◽  
Yu-Chieh Tzeng ◽  
Jason W. Hamner ◽  
Renaud Tamisier ◽  
J. Andrew Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Pressor Response ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Sympathetic Outflow ◽  
Isometric Handgrip ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Hypoxic Exercise

Resting vascular sympathetic outflow is significantly increased during and beyond exposure to acute hypoxia without a parallel increase in either resistance or pressure. This uncoupling may indicate a reduction in the ability of sympathetic outflow to effect vascular responses (sympathetic transduction). However, the effect of hypoxia on sympathetic transduction has not been explored. We hypothesized that transduction would either remain unchanged or be reduced by isocapnic hypoxia. In 11 young healthy individuals, we measured beat-by-beat pressure, multiunit sympathetic nerve activity, and popliteal blood flow velocity at rest and during isometric handgrip exercise to fatigue, before and during isocapnic hypoxia (∼80% SpO2), and derived sympathetic transduction for each subject via a transfer function that reflects Poiseuille's law of flow. During hypoxia, heart rate and sympathetic nerve activity increased, whereas pressure and flow remained unchanged. Both normoxic and hypoxic exercise elicited significant increases in heart rate, pressure, and sympathetic activity, although sympathetic responses to hypoxic exercise were blunted. Hypoxia slightly increased the gain relation between pressure and flow (0.062 ± 0.006 vs. 0.074 ± 0.004 cm·s−1·mmHg−1; P = 0.04), but markedly increased sympathetic transduction (−0.024 ± 0.005 vs. −0.042 ± 0.007 cm·s−1·spike−1; P < 0.01). The pressor response to isometric handgrip was similar during normoxic and hypoxic exercise due to the balance of interactions among the tachycardia, sympathoexcitation, and transduction. This indicates that the ability of sympathetic activity to affect vasoconstriction is enhanced during brief exposure to isocapnic hypoxia, and this appears to offset the potent vasodilatory stimulus of hypoxia.

scholarly journals Effect of hypoxia on arterial baroreflex control of heart rate and muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans

2002 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 857-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Halliwill ◽  
Christopher T. Minson
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Arterial Baroreflex ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Baroreflex Control ◽  
Normotensive Subjects

We tested the hypothesis that acute hypoxia would alter the sensitivity of arterial baroreflex control of both heart rate and sympathetic vasoconstrictor outflow. In 16 healthy, nonsmoking, normotensive subjects (8 women, 8 men, age 20–33 yr), we assessed baroreflex control of heart rate and muscle sympathetic nerve activity by using the modified Oxford technique during both normoxia and hypoxia (12% O2). Compared with normoxia, hypoxia reduced arterial O2 saturation levels from 96.8 ± 0.3 to 80.7 ± 1.4% ( P < 0.001), increased heart rate from 59.8 ± 2.4 to 79.4 ± 2.9 beats/min ( P < 0.001), increased mean arterial pressure from 96.7 ± 2.5 to 105.0 ± 3.3 mmHg ( P = 0.002), and increased sympathetic activity 126 ± 58% ( P < 0.05). The sensitivity for baroreflex control of both heart rate and sympathetic activity was not altered by hypoxia (heart rate: −1.02 ± 0.09 vs. −1.02 ± 0.11 beats · min−1 · mmHg−1; nerve activity: −5.6 ± 0.9 vs. −6.2 ± 0.9 integrated activity · beat−1 · mmHg−1; both P > 0.05). Acute exposure to hypoxia reset baroreflex control of both heart rate and sympathetic activity to higher pressures without changes in baroreflex sensitivity.

scholarly journals Heart rate variability and muscle sympathetic nerve activity response to acute stress: the effect of breathing

2010 ◽  
Vol 299 (1) ◽  
pp. R80-R91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay D. DeBeck ◽  
Stewart R. Petersen ◽  
Kelvin E. Jones ◽  
Michael K. Stickland
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Spontaneous Breathing ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Cold Pressor ◽  
Isometric Handgrip ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Controlled Breathing

Previous research has suggested a relationship between low-frequency power of heart rate variability (HRV; LF in normalized units, LFnu) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). However, investigations have not systematically controlled for breathing, which can modulate both HRV and MSNA. Accordingly, the aims of this experiment were to investigate the possibility of parallel responses in MSNA and HRV (LFnu) to selected acute stressors and the effect of controlled breathing. After data were obtained at rest, 12 healthy males (28 ± 5 yr) performed isometric handgrip exercise (30% maximal voluntary contraction) and the cold pressor test in random order, and were then exposed to hypoxia (inspired fraction of O2 = 0.105) for 7 min, during randomly assigned spontaneous and controlled breathing conditions (20 breaths/min, constant tidal volume, isocapnic). MSNA was recorded from the peroneal nerve, whereas HRV was calculated from ECG. At rest, controlled breathing did not alter MSNA but decreased LFnu ( P < 0.05 for all) relative to spontaneous breathing. MSNA increased in response to all stressors regardless of breathing. LFnu increased with exercise during both breathing conditions. During cold pressor, LFnu decreased when breathing was spontaneous, whereas in the controlled breathing condition, LFnu was unchanged from baseline. Hypoxia elicited increases in LFnu when breathing was controlled, but not during spontaneous breathing. The parallel changes observed during exercise and controlled breathing during hypoxia suggest that LFnu may be an indication of sympathetic outflow in select conditions. However, since MSNA and LFnu did not change in parallel with all stressors, a cautious approach to the use of LFnu as a marker of sympathetic activity is warranted.

scholarly journals Habitual cigarette smoking raises pressor responses to spontaneous bursts of muscle sympathetic nerve activity

2019 ◽  
Vol 317 (2) ◽  
pp. R280-R288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Cui ◽  
Rachel C. Drew ◽  
Matthew D. Muller ◽  
Cheryl Blaha ◽  
Virginia Gonzalez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Pressor Response ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Total Activity ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Baroreflex Control ◽  
Pressor Responses ◽  
Averaging Techniques

Smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Prior reports showed a transient increase in blood pressure (BP) following a spontaneous burst of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). We hypothesized that this pressor response would be accentuated in smokers. Using signal-averaging techniques, we examined the BP (Finometer) response to MSNA in 18 otherwise healthy smokers and 42 healthy nonsmokers during resting conditions. The sensitivities of baroreflex control of MSNA and heart rate were also assessed. The mean resting MSNA, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were higher in smokers than nonsmokers. The MAP increase following a burst of MSNA was significantly greater in smokers than nonsmokers (Δ3.4 ± 0.3 vs. Δ1.6 ± 0.1 mmHg, P < 0.001). The baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) of burst incidence, burst area, or total activity was not different between the two groups. However, cardiac BRS was lower in smokers than nonsmokers (14.6 ± 1.7 vs. 24.6 ± 1.5 ms/mmHg, P < 0.001). Moreover, the MAP increase following a burst was negatively correlated with the cardiac BRS. These observations suggest that habitual smoking in otherwise healthy individuals raises the MAP increase following spontaneous MSNA and that the attenuated cardiac BRS in the smokers was a contributing factor. We speculate that the accentuated pressor increase in response to spontaneous MSNA may contribute to the elevated resting BP in the smokers.

Baroreflex modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity during posthandgrip muscle ischemia in humans

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 1679-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Cui ◽  
Thad E. Wilson ◽  
Manabu Shibasaki ◽  
Nicole A. Hodges ◽  
Craig G. Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Isometric Handgrip ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Arterial Blood ◽  
Muscle Ischemia ◽  
The Relationship

To identify whether muscle metaboreceptor stimulation alters baroreflex control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), MSNA, beat-by-beat arterial blood pressure (Finapres), and electrocardiogram were recorded in 11 healthy subjects in the supine position. Subjects performed 2 min of isometric handgrip exercise at 40% of maximal voluntary contraction followed by 2.5 min of posthandgrip muscle ischemia. During muscle ischemia, blood pressure was lowered and then raised by intravenous bolus infusions of sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine HCl, respectively. The slope of the relationship between MSNA and diastolic blood pressure was more negative ( P < 0.001) during posthandgrip muscle ischemia (−201.9 ± 20.4 units · beat−1 · mmHg−1) when compared with control conditions (−142.7 ± 17.3 units · beat−1 · mmHg−1). No significant change in the slope of the relationship between heart rate and systolic blood pressure was observed. However, both curves shifted during postexercise ischemia to accommodate the elevation in blood pressure and MSNA that occurs with this condition. These data suggest that the sensitivity of baroreflex modulation of MSNA is elevated by muscle metaboreceptor stimulation, whereas the sensitivity of baroreflex of modulate heart rate is unchanged during posthandgrip muscle ischemia.

Isometric handgrip training reduces arterial pressure at rest without changes in sympathetic nerve activity

2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (1) ◽  
pp. H245-H249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chester A. Ray ◽  
Dario I. Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Isometric Handgrip ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Ischemia

The purpose of this study was to determine whether isometric handgrip (IHG) training reduces arterial pressure and whether reductions in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) mediate this drop in arterial pressure. Normotensive subjects were assigned to training ( n = 9), sham training ( n = 7), or control ( n = 8) groups. The training protocol consisted of four 3-min bouts of IHG exercise at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) separated by 5-min rest periods. Training was performed four times per week for 5 wk. Subjects' resting arterial pressure and heart rate were measured three times on 3 consecutive days before and after training, with resting MSNA (peroneal nerve) recorded on the third day. Additionally, subjects performed IHG exercise at 30% of MVC to fatigue followed by muscle ischemia. In the trained group, resting diastolic (67 ± 1 to 62 ± 1 mmHg) and mean arterial pressure (86 ± 1 to 82 ± 1 mmHg) significantly decreased, whereas systolic arterial pressure (116 ± 3 to 113 ± 2 mmHg), heart rate (67 ± 4 to 66 ± 4 beats/min), and MSNA (14 ± 2 to 15 ± 2 bursts/min) did not significantly change following training. MSNA and cardiovascular responses to exercise and postexercise muscle ischemia were unchanged by training. There were no significant changes in any variables for the sham training and control groups. The results indicate that IHG training is an effective nonpharmacological intervention in lowering arterial pressure.

Sympathetic alterations after midline medullary raphe lesions

1987 ◽  
Vol 253 (1) ◽  
pp. R91-R100 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. McCall ◽  
L. T. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Pressor Response ◽  
Vagal Afferents ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Medullary Raphe ◽  
Stimulation Of

The present study was designed to determine the functional importance of the midline medullary raphe nuclei in the autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system in the anesthetized cat. Baroreceptor and somatosympathetic reflexes as well as the effects of electrical stimulation of vagal afferents and pressor and depressor sites in the hypothalamus and spinal trigeminal tract were determined before and after midline medullary lesions that extended from 2 to 7 mm rostral to the obex. Midline medullary lesions failed to affect baroreceptor reflexes as judged by the lack of effect on the sympathoinhibition associated with the pressor response to phenylephrine and the degree of slow-wave locking of sympathetic activity to the cardiac cycle. However, the lesion did significantly increase spontaneous sympathetic activity recorded from the inferior cardiac nerve. Blood pressure and heart rate were not altered by midline lesions. In addition, the computer-summed sympathoexcitatory response to electrical stimulation of somatic afferents in the sciatic nerve and the sympathoinhibitory response to stimulation of vagal afferent fibers were not affected by midline lesions. In contrast, the decrease in blood pressure and inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity elicited by electrical stimulation of the spinal trigeminal tract were completely abolished by the lesion. Depressor responses evoked from the anteroventral third ventricle region of the hypothalamus but not pressor responses elicited from the posterior hypothalamus were eliminated following midline medullary lesions. Finally, the sympathoinhibitory actions of the serotonin antagonist methysergide were blocked by medullary raphe lesions. These data indicate that neural elements in the medial medullary area function to provide a tonic inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity that is of nonbaroreceptor origin. Depressor responses evoked from the anterior hypothalamus and the spinal trigeminal tract also are mediated through this area of the medulla. Finally, the data support our contention that medullary serotonergic neurons have a sympathoexcitatory function.

Increase in sympathetic outflow by paraventricular nucleus stimulation in awake rats

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (6) ◽  
pp. R1325-R1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kannan ◽  
Y. Hayashida ◽  
H. Yamashita
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Outflow ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Renal Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Renal Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Renal Sympathetic

Our previous studies demonstrated that stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in anesthetized rats evoked a depressor response accompanied with a decrease in sympathetic outflow (H. Kannan, A. Niijima, and H. Yamashita, J. Auton. Nerv. Syst. 19: 83-86, 1987; H. Yamashita, H. Kannan, M. Kasai, and T. Osaka, J. Auton. Nerv. Syst. 19: 229-234, 1987). Because anesthesia may alter cardiovascular responses, we examined in conscious rats the effects of PVN stimulation on arterial pressure, heart rate, and renal sympathetic nerve activity. Electrical stimulation through chronically implanted electrodes evoked increases in arterial pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity with a slight decrease in heart rate. The magnitude of responses was dependent on the frequency and the intensity of the stimulus. Latency of the excitatory response of the renal sympathetic nerve activity was approximately 70 ms. Microinjection of L-glutamate (0.5 M, 200 nl) into the PVN area also elicited increases in blood pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity. These results suggest that activation of PVN neurons in conscious rats produces pressor responses due to an increase in the sympathetic outflow. These findings contrast with those obtained previously in anesthetized rats.

Skin sympathetic outflow during head-down neck flexion in humans

1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (3) ◽  
pp. R1142-R1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Ray ◽  
K. M. Hume ◽  
T. L. Shortt
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Outflow ◽  
Neck Flexion ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Calf Blood Flow

We have previously demonstrated increases in muscle sympathetic nerve activity during head-down neck flexion (HDNF). The purpose of the present study was to determine if HDNF also activates skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA). SSNA, heart rate, arterial pressure, skin blood flow, calf blood flow, and calculated calf vascular resistance (mean arterial pressure/calf blood flow) were determined in 12 subjects during 3 min of baseline (lying prone with chin supported) and 3 min of HDNF. There were no significant changes in heart rate and arterial pressures during HDNF; however, diastolic and mean arterial pressure tended to increase slightly. Calf blood flow decreased 22% and calf vascular resistance increased 46% during HDNF. SSNA did not significantly change during HDNF. In three subjects we measured both muscle and skin sympathetic nerve activity during HDNF. In these trials, muscle sympathetic nerve activity consistently increased, but SSNA did not. The results indicate that HDNF in humans activates muscle sympathetic nerve activity, but does not activate SSNA. Thus vestibular stimulation may elicit differential activation of sympathetic outflow in humans.

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