Increased chemoreceptor output and ventilatory response to sustained hypoxia

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 1157-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Georgopoulos ◽  
S. Walker ◽  
N. R. Anthonisen

In adult humans the ventilatory response to sustained hypoxia (VRSH) is biphasic, characterized by an initial brisk increase, due to peripheral chemoreceptor (PC) stimulation, followed by a decline attributed to central depressant action of hypoxia. To study the effects of selective stimulation of PC on the ventilatory response pattern to hypoxia, the VRSH was evaluated after pretreatment with almitrine (A), a PC stimulant. Eight subjects were pretreated with A (75 mg po) or placebo (P) on 2 days in a single-blind manner. Two hours after drug administration, they breathed, in succession, room air (10 min), O2 (5 min), room air (5 min), hypoxia [25 min, arterial O2 saturation (SaO2) = 80%], O2 (5 min), and room air (5 min). End-tidal CO2 was kept constant at the normoxic base-line values. Inspiratory minute ventilation (VI) and breathing patterns were measured over the last 2 min of each period and during minutes 3–5 of hypoxia, and nadirs in VI were assessed just before and after O2 exposure. Independent of the day, the VRSH was biphasic. With P and A pretreatment, early hypoxia increased VI 4.6 +/- 1 and 14.2 +/- 1 (SE) l/min, respectively, from values obtained during the preceding room-air period. On A day the hypoxic ventilatory decline was significantly larger than that on P day, and on both days the decline was a constant fraction of the acute hypoxic response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 1150-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Georgopoulos ◽  
S. G. Holtby ◽  
D. Berezanski ◽  
N. R. Anthonisen

In 10 normal young adults, ventilation was evaluated with and without pretreatment with aminophylline, an adenosine blocker, while they breathed pure O2 1) after breathing room air and 2) after 25 min of isocapnic hypoxia (arterial O2 saturation 80%). With and without aminophylline, 5 min of hyperoxia significantly increased inspiratory minute ventilation (VI) from the normoxic base line. In control experiments, with hypoxia, VI initially increased and then declined to levels that were slightly above the normoxic base line. Pretreatment with aminophylline significantly attenuated the hypoxic ventilatory decline. During transitions to pure O2 (cessation of carotid bodies' output), VI and breathing patterns were analyzed breath by breath with a moving-average technique, searching for nadirs before and after hyperoxia. On placebo days, at the end of hypoxia, hyperoxia produced nadirs that were significantly lower than those observed with room-air breathing and also significantly lower than when hyperoxia followed normoxia, averaging, respectively, 6.41 +/- 0.52, 8.07 +/- 0.32, and 8.04 +/- 0.39 (SE) l/min. This hypoxic depression was due to significant decrease in tidal volume and prolongation of expiratory time. Aminophylline partly prevented these alterations in breathing pattern; significant posthypoxic ventilatory depression was not observed. We conclude that aminophylline attenuated hypoxic central depression of ventilation, although it does not affect hyperoxic steady-state hyperventilation. Adenosine may play a modulatory role in hypoxic but not in hyperoxic ventilation.


2004 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 1673-1680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Morelli ◽  
M. Safwan Badr ◽  
Jason H. Mateika

We hypothesized that the acute ventilatory response to carbon dioxide in the presence of low and high levels of oxygen would increase to a greater extent in men compared with women after exposure to episodic hypoxia. Eleven healthy men and women of similar race, age, and body mass index completed a series of rebreathing trials before and after exposure to eight 4-min episodes of hypoxia. During the rebreathing trials, subjects initially hyperventilated to reduce the end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PetCO2) below 25 Torr. Subjects then rebreathed from a bag containing a normocapnic (42 Torr), low (50 Torr), or high oxygen gas mixture (150 Torr). During the trials, PetCO2 increased while the selected level of oxygen was maintained. The point at which minute ventilation began to rise in a linear fashion as PetCO2 increased was considered to be the carbon dioxide set point. The ventilatory response below and above this point was determined. The results showed that the ventilatory response to carbon dioxide above the set point was increased in men compared with women before exposure to episodic hypoxia, independent of the oxygen level that was maintained during the rebreathing trials (50 Torr: men, 5.19 ± 0.82 vs. women, 4.70 ± 0.77 l·min−1·Torr−1; 150 Torr: men, 4.33 ± 1.15 vs. women, 3.21 ± 0.58 l·min−1·Torr−1). Moreover, relative to baseline measures, the ventilatory response to carbon dioxide in the presence of low and high oxygen levels increased to a greater extent in men compared with women after exposure to episodic hypoxia (50 Torr: men, 9.52 ± 1.40 vs. women, 5.97 ± 0.71 l·min−1·Torr−1; 150 Torr: men, 5.73 ± 0.81 vs. women, 3.83 ± 0.56 l·min−1·Torr−1). Thus we conclude that enhancement of the acute ventilatory response to carbon dioxide after episodic hypoxia is sex dependent.


1984 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 602-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Y. Huang ◽  
J. K. Alexander ◽  
R. F. Grover ◽  
J. T. Maher ◽  
R. E. McCullough ◽  
...  

Hypoxia at high altitude stimulates ventilation, but inhibitory influences in the first days after arrival limit the ventilatory response. Possible inhibitory influences include hypocapnia and depression of ventilation during sustained hypoxia. Our approach was to compare hypoxic ventilatory responses at low altitude with ventilation at high altitude. In 12 subjects we compared responses both to isocapnic hypoxia and poikilocapnic (no CO2 added) hypoxia during acute (less than 10 min) and sustained (30 min) hypoxia in Denver (1,600 m) with ventilations measured on each of 5 days on Pikes Peak (4,300 m). On Pikes Peak, day 1 ventilation [minute ventilation = 10.0 1/min, BTPS; arterial O2 saturation (Sao2) = 82%] was less than predicted by either acute isocapnic or poikilocapnic tests. However, sustained poikilocapnic hypoxia (Sao2 approximately = 82%) in Denver yielded ventilation similar to that on Pikes Peak on day 1. By Pikes Peak days 4 and 5, endtidal PCO2, pHa, and Sao2 approached plateaus, and ventilation (12.4 1/min, BTPS) on these days was as predicted by the acute isocapnic test. Thus the combination of hypocapnia and sustained hypoxia may have blunted the ventilatory increase on Pikes Peak day 1 but apparently not after 4 or 5 days of acclimatization.


2003 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. S. Zhou ◽  
J. A. Rowley ◽  
F. Demirovic ◽  
M. P. Diamond ◽  
M. S. Badr

The hypocapnic apneic threshold (AT) is lower in women relative to men. To test the hypothesis that the gender difference in AT was due to testosterone, we determined the AT during non-rapid eye movement sleep in eight healthy, nonsnoring, premenopausal women before and after 10–12 days of transdermal testosterone. Hypocapnia was induced via nasal mechanical ventilation (MV) for 3 min with tidal volumes ranging from 175 to 215% above eupneic tidal volume and respiratory frequency matched to eupneic frequency. Cessation of MV resulted in hypocapnic central apnea or hypopnea depending on the magnitude of hypocapnia. Nadir minute ventilation as a percentage of control (%V˙e) was plotted against the change in end-tidal CO2(Pet CO2 ); %V˙e was given a value of zero during central apnea. The AT was defined as the Pet CO2 at which the apnea closest to the last hypopnea occurred; hypocapnic ventilatory response (HPVR) was defined as the slope of the linear regression V˙e vs. Pet CO2 . Both the AT (39.5 ± 2.9 vs. 42.1 ± 3.0 Torr; P = 0.002) and HPVR (0.20 ± 0.05 vs. 0.33 ± 0.11%V˙e/Torr; P = 0.016) increased with testosterone administration. We conclude that testosterone administration increases AT in premenopausal women, suggesting that the increased breathing instability during sleep in men is related to the presence of testosterone.


1987 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. D'Urzo ◽  
K. R. Chapman ◽  
A. S. Rebuck

Eight healthy volunteers performed gradational tests to exhaustion on a mechanically braked cycle ergometer, with and without the addition of an inspiratory resistive load. Mean slopes for linear ventilatory responses during loaded and unloaded exercise [change in minute ventilation per change in CO2 output (delta VE/delta VCO2)] measured below the anaerobic threshold were 24.1 +/- 1.3 (SE) = l/l of CO2 and 26.2 +/- 1.0 l/l of CO2, respectively (P greater than 0.10). During loaded exercise, decrements in VE, tidal volume, respiratory frequency, arterial O2 saturation, and increases in end-tidal CO2 tension were observed only when work loads exceeded 65% of the unloaded maximum. There was a significant correlation between the resting ventilatory response to hypercapnia delta VE/delta PCO2 and the ventilatory response to VCO2 during exercise (delta VE/delta VCO2; r = 0.88; P less than 0.05). The maximal inspiratory pressure generated during loading correlated with CO2 sensitivity at rest (r = 0.91; P less than 0.05) and with exercise ventilation (delta VE/delta VCO2; r = 0.83; P less than 0.05). Although resistive loading did not alter O2 uptake (VO2) or heart rate (HR) as a function of work load, maximal VO2, HR, and exercise tolerance were decreased to 90% of control values. We conclude that a modest inspiratory resistive load reduces maximum exercise capacity and that CO2 responsiveness may play a role in the control of breathing during exercise when airway resistance is artificially increased.


1993 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1552-1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Okabe ◽  
W. Hida ◽  
Y. Kikuchi ◽  
H. Kurosawa ◽  
J. Midorikawa ◽  
...  

To examine the effects of sustained hypoxia on upper airway and chest wall muscle activity in humans, we measured genioglossus muscle (GG) activity, inspiratory intercostal muscle (IIM) activity, and ventilation during sustained hypoxia in 17 normal subjects and 17 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The trial of sustained hypoxia was performed as follows: after an equilibration period of 3 min, isocapnic hypoxia (arterial O2 saturation = 80 +/- 2%) was maintained for 20 min. GG EMG was measured with a fine-wire electrode inserted percutaneously, and IIM EMG was measured with surface electrodes. Ventilatory response to sustained hypoxia was initially increased and subsequently decreased. Stable phasic GG activity during spontaneous tidal breathing was observed in 6 normal subjects and 10 patients with OSA. Responses of GG and IIM activities to sustained hypoxia showed a biphasic response qualitatively similar to the ventilatory response in these 16 subjects. The absolute value of the subsequent decline in GG activity was similar to that of the initial increase, whereas the subsequent decline in IIM activity was smaller than that of the initial increase. Percent GG activity was significantly lower than both percent IIM activity and percent minute ventilation during the decline and plateau phases. There were no significant differences in ventilatory and EMG responses between the normal subjects and the patients with OSA. We conclude that, during wakefulness, upper airway muscle activity declined to a greater extent than inspiratory pump muscle activity during sustained hypoxia.


1977 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-976 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Riley ◽  
B. A. Legawiec ◽  
T. V. Santiago ◽  
N. H. Edelman

Hypercapnic and hypoxic ventilatory responses were serially measured in nine normal subjects given 3.9 g aspirin (ASA) per day for 9 days. Minute ventilation (VE), end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (PETCO2), venous bicarbonate concentration [HCO3-], oxygen consumption (VO2), hypercapnic ventilatory response (deltaVE/deltaPCO2), and isocapnic hypoxic ventilatory response (A) were determined before, 2 h after the first dose, and at 72-h intervals during the next 14 days. Serum salicylate levels averaged 18.6 +/- 2.0 mg/dl. VE increased (P less than 0.05, PETCO2 decreased (P less than 0.05), and [HCO3-] did not change significantly during drug ingestion. deltaVE/deltaPCO2 increased gradually to a value 37% greater than control by day 3 and remained constant (P less 0.01). A increased by 251% and VO2 by 18% within 2 h and remained constant for the remainder of the ASA period (P less than 0.01). All values returned to base line within 24 h following cessation of ASA. We conclude that during continuous ASA ingestion there is a gradual increase of hypercapnic ventilatory response. This may reflect slow entrance of ASA into the central nervous system. In contrast, there is a rapid rise in hypoxic ventilatory response which may be mechanically linked to changes in metabolic rate.


1986 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 906-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Easton ◽  
L. J. Slykerman ◽  
N. R. Anthonisen

We examined the ventilatory response to moderate (arterial O2 saturation 80%), sustained, isocapnic hypoxia in 20 young adults. During 25 min of hypoxia, inspiratory minute ventilation (VI) showed an initial brisk increase but then declined to a level intermediate between the initial increase and resting room air VI. The intermediate level of VI was a plateau that did not change significantly when hypoxia was extended up to 1 h. The relation between the amount of initial increase and subsequent decrease in ventilation during constant hypoxia was not random; the magnitude of the eventual decline correlated confidently with the degree of initial hyperventilation. Evaluation of breathing pattern revealed that during constant hypoxia there was little alteration in respiratory timing and that the changes in VI were related to significant alterations in tidal volume and mean inspiratory flow (VT/TI). None of the changes was reproduced during a sham control protocol, in which room air was substituted for the period of low fractional concentration of inspired O2. We conclude that ventilatory response to hypoxia in adults is not sustained; it exhibits some biphasic features similar to the neonatal hypoxic response.


1993 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1916-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Y. Cao ◽  
M. Berthon-Jones ◽  
C. E. Sullivan ◽  
C. W. Zwillich

In humans the ventilatory [minute ventilation (VI)] response to sustained hypoxia is biphasic: an initial brisk increase followed by a decline is usually seen. However, in adult dogs, the ventilatory response to a similar stimulus shows no decline. To evaluate if central ventilatory drive is altered by sustained hypoxia, we measured the lowest ventilation (nadir) as the lowest moving average of seven sequential breaths within 200 s after transition to hyperoxia (100% O2) after 3 different exposures: room air, 4-min (brief) eucapnic hypoxia (arterial O2 saturation = approximately 80%), and 12-min (prolonged) eucapnic hypoxia. The nadir hyperoxic VI after brief hypoxia (2.7 +/- 0.2 l/min) was similar to that after room air (2.6 +/- 0.2 l/min; P > 0.05), with both less than prior room air mean VI (P < 0.05). The nadir after prolonged hypoxia (3.5 +/- 0.3 l/min) was significantly greater than that after brief hypoxia (P < 0.05). This suggests that central ventilatory drive increases in conscious dogs after sustained eucapnic hypoxia. The reason for the difference in central ventilatory response to hypoxia between conscious dogs and adult humans is unexplained.


2001 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 1607-1614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzieh Fatemian ◽  
Peter A. Robbins

The ventilatory sensitivity to CO2, in hyperoxia, is increased after an 8-h exposure to hypoxia. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether this increase arises through an increase in peripheral or central chemosensitivity. Ten healthy volunteers each underwent 8-h exposures to 1) isocapnic hypoxia, with end-tidal Po2 (Pet O2 ) = 55 Torr and end-tidal Pco2 (Pet CO2 ) = eucapnia; 2) poikilocapnic hypoxia, with Pet O2 = 55 Torr and Pet CO2 = uncontrolled; and 3) air-breathing control. The ventilatory response to CO2 was measured before and after each exposure with the use of a multifrequency binary sequence with two levels of Pet CO2 : 1.5 and 10 Torr above the normal resting value. Pet O2 was held at 250 Torr. The peripheral (Gp) and the central (Gc) sensitivities were calculated by fitting the ventilatory data to a two-compartment model. There were increases in combined Gp + Gc (26%, P < 0.05), Gp (33%, P < 0.01), and Gc (23%, P = not significant) after exposure to hypoxia. There were no significant differences between isocapnic and poikilocapnic hypoxia. We conclude that sustained hypoxia induces a significant increase in chemosensitivity to CO2 within the peripheral chemoreflex.


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