Static muscle contraction reflexly increases adrenal sympathetic nerve activity in rats

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (5) ◽  
pp. R1307-R1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Vissing ◽  
L. B. Wilson ◽  
J. H. Mitchell ◽  
R. G. Victor

Little is known about the mechanisms responsible for activation of sympathoadrenal function during exercise. We hypothesized that sympathoadrenal discharge is activated at the onset of exercise by a reflex arising in the contracting muscle. Adrenal sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) was recorded during 1 min stimulation of the tibial nerve at two times motor threshold, before and during neuromuscular blockade, in 12 alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats. Static muscle contractions, induced by stimulation before neuromuscular blockade, were repeated during ganglionic blockade (n = 6) to specifically test reflex activation of preganglionic activity to the adrenal gland. During static contraction, adrenal SNA rapidly increased (P less than 0.05) to a maximum of 89 +/- 12% above basal and then declined, reaching basal levels after 30 s of muscle contraction. Tibial nerve stimulation during neuromuscular blockade had no effect on adrenal SNA. In most rats, adrenal SNA decreased with ganglionic blockade, indicating postganglionic as well as preganglionic innervation of the adrenal gland. During ganglionic blockade, static muscle contractions elicited a 140 +/- 21% increase in adrenal preganglionic SNA. In conclusion, static muscle contraction reflexly increases SNA to the adrenal gland, providing a mechanism for sympathoadrenal activation at the onset of exercise.

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (3) ◽  
pp. R662-R668 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Ando ◽  
T. Ichijo ◽  
T. Katafuchi ◽  
T. Hori

The effects of central administration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and its selective agonists on splenic sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) were investigated in urethan- and alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats. An intra-third-cerebroventricular (13V) injection of PGE2 (0.1-10 nmol/kg) increased splenic SNA in a dose-dependent manner. An I3V injection of an EP1 agonist, 17-phenyl-omega-trinor PGE2 (1-30 nmol/kg), also resulted in a dose-dependent increase in splenic SNA, with a time course similar to that of PGE2-induced responses. In contrast, EP2 agonists, butaprost (10-100 nmol/kg I3V) and 11-deoxy-PGE1 (10-100 nmol/kg I3V), had no effect on splenic SNA. An I3V injection of M & B-28767 (an EP3/EP1 agonist, EP3 >> EP1) increased splenic SNA only at high doses (10-100 nmol/kg). Pretreatment with an EP1 antagonist, SC-19220 (200 and 500 nmol/kg), completely blocked the responses of splenic SNA to PGE2 (0.1 nmol/kg) and M & B-28767 (10 nmol/kg), respectively. These findings indicate that brain PGE2 increases splenic SNA through its action on EP1 receptors.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (3) ◽  
pp. H1537-H1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Kregel ◽  
M. J. Kenney ◽  
M. P. Massett ◽  
D. A. Morgan ◽  
S. J. Lewis

The present study examined the mechanisms responsible for the hindlimb vasodilation produced by elevating core body (colonic) temperature (Tco) of alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats from 37 to 39 degrees C. Elevating Tco to 39 degrees C produced equivalent decreases in hindlimb vascular resistance in sham-operated (-48 +/- 2%) and sinoaortic baroreceptor-denervated rats (-44 +/- 3%) rats. There were no changes in mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, or lumbar sympathetic nerve activity in either group. The prior administration of the alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin (100 micrograms/kg i.v.) did not prevent the heat-induced decrease in hindlimb resistance in sham-operated rats (-52 +/- 7% vs. baseline). In contrast, the fall in hindlimb resistance was markedly attenuated (-20 +/- 5% vs. baseline) in sham-operated rats that had received a prior injection of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (100 mumol/kg i.v.). Dexamethasone (1 mg/kg i.v.), administered to prevent the possible induction of inducible NOS, did not modify the heat-induced hindlimb vasodilation in sham-operated rats (-41 +/- 5%). These results demonstrate that the elevation of Tco to 39 degrees C in alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats produces a relative vasodilation in the hindlimb that is not obviously linked to an alteration in lumbar sympathetic nerve activity. Because the vasodilation occurred in the presence of prazosin, it is unlikely that the decline in resistance is due to the loss of the vasoconstrictor potency of neurally derived catecholamines. The findings that NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, but not dexamethasone, diminished the heat-induced hindlimb vasodilation suggests that the fall in resistance is due in part to constitutive NOS and supports a role for NOS as a mediator of thermoregulatory active vasodilation.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (2) ◽  
pp. R423-R427 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Morgan ◽  
T. W. Balon ◽  
B. H. Ginsberg ◽  
A. L. Mark

The insulin hypothesis of hypertension proposes that hyperinsulinemia increases sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and raises arterial pressure. The goals of this study were 1) to determine if hyperinsulinemia produces regionally uniform or nonuniform increases in SNA and 2) to test the hypothesis that spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) have exaggerated sympathoadrenal responses to hyperinsulinemia. We measured plasma insulin, blood glucose, mean arterial pressure, and adrenal, renal, and lumbar SNA in alpha-chloralose-anesthetized SHR and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats before and during infusion of two doses of insulin for 60 min each while maintaining euglycemia. In WKY rats, graded increases in plasma insulin from 27 +/- 5 (SE) to 200 +/- 29 microU/ml increased lumbar SNA from 100% to 285 +/- 26% but failed to significantly increase adrenal or renal SNA. In SHR rats, similar increases in plasma insulin from 27 +/- 4 to 213 +/- 33 microU/ml caused significant increases in adrenal (100% to 174 +/- 16%) and lumbar (100% to 307 +/- 26%) SNA but not in renal SNA. Despite increases in SNA, mean arterial pressure did not increase significantly in either group of rats. We conclude that 1) hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp produces regionally nonuniform increases in sympathetic nerve activity, and 2) there is a potentiated increase in adrenal SNA in SHR compared with WKY rats during hyperinsulinemia, whereas lumbar SNA responses were similar in the two strains, and renal SNA did not increase in either strain.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (3) ◽  
pp. H1075-H1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Wilson ◽  
A. C. Bonham

This study investigated the effects of area postrema stimulation on the activity of cardiovascular-related neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla and determined whether the effects were mediated by cell bodies. Results are based on recordings of extracellular spikes from 113 neurons in 37 alpha-chloralose- or pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized rabbits. Single sequential stimuli evoked an excitation (onset, 22 +/- 8 ms; duration, 20 +/- 14 ms) followed by an inhibition (onset, 53 +/- 21 ms; duration, 127 +/- 82 ms) in 1) 58 neurons with discharge patterns that were correlated with sympathetic nerve activity (determined by spike-triggered averaging) and with the cardiac cycle (determined by post-R wave-triggered histograms) and that were inhibited by increasing arterial pressure and 2) 27 neurons that exhibited a cardiac rhythm but not a sympathetic rhythm. Area postrema-evoked excitation and inhibition were markedly attenuated by kainic acid injections in area postrema, suggesting that both inputs were derived from cell bodies. The results suggest that area postrema neurons may modulate the activity of medullary neurons in the baroreflex-sympathetic arc as well as neurons in other networks that share baroreceptor input but may not be related to sympathetic nerve activity.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1558-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Mori ◽  
Kiyonobu Nishikawa ◽  
Takekazu Terai ◽  
Hidekazu Yukioka ◽  
Akira Asada

Background Epidural morphine yields postoperative pain relief and hemodynamic stability. However, the effects of epidural morphine on sympathetic tone are unclear. This study was designed to elucidate the effects of epidural morphine on cardiac (CSNA) and renal (RSNA) sympathetic nerve activity by direct measurement in anesthetized cats. Methods Thirty mongrel cats anesthetized with alpha-chloralose were randomly assigned to one of the following five groups: control (0.2 ml/kg thoracic epidural normal saline; n=5); thoracic epidural morphine (n=9); lumbar epidural morphine (n=6); vagotomized, sinoaortic denervated, thoracic epidural morphine (n=5); or intravenous morphine (n=5). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), CSNA, and RSNA were measured 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after saline or morphine (200 microg/kg) administration and 15 min after reversal with 200 microg naloxone given intravenously. Results In the control group, no changes in measured variables were found after either thoracic epidural saline or intravenous naloxone. Thoracic and lumbar epidural morphine both significantly reduced MAP, HR, CSNA, and RSNA 30 through 120 min after morphine administration (P < 0.05). These changes were reversed by intravenous naloxone. Changes after thoracic epidural morphine administration in vagotomized, baroreceptor-denervated cats were similar to those in intact cats. Intravenous morphine produced no significant changes except for a decrease in MAP, which was reversed by intravenous naloxone. Conclusion In contrast to intravenous morphine, thoracic and lumbar epidural morphine both inhibited cardiac and renal sympathetic nerve activity and consequently reduced MAP and HR in alpha-chloralose anesthetized cats.


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