Recurrent laryngeal nerve activity exhibits a 5-HT-mediated long-term facilitation and enhanced response to hypoxia following acute intermittent hypoxia in rat

2012 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 1144-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara G. Bautista ◽  
Tao Xing ◽  
Angelina Y. Fong ◽  
Paul M. Pilowsky

A progressive and sustained increase in inspiratory-related motor output (“long-term facilitation”) and an augmented ventilatory response to hypoxia occur following acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH). To date, acute plasticity in respiratory motor outputs active in the postinspiratory and expiratory phases has not been studied. The recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) innervates laryngeal abductor muscles that widen the glottic aperture during inspiration. Other efferent fibers in the RLN innervate adductor muscles that partially narrow the glottic aperture during postinspiration. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not AIH elicits a serotonin-mediated long-term facilitation of laryngeal abductor muscles, and if recruitment of adductor muscle activity occurs following AIH. Urethane anesthetized, paralyzed, unilaterally vagotomized, and artificially ventilated adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 10 exposures of hypoxia (10% O2 in N2, 45 s, separated by 5 min, n = 7). At 60 min post-AIH, phrenic nerve activity and inspiratory RLN activity were elevated (39 ± 11 and 23 ± 6% above baseline, respectively). These responses were abolished by pretreatment with the serotonin-receptor antagonist, methysergide ( n = 4). No increase occurred in time control animals ( n = 7). Animals that did not exhibit postinspiratory RLN activity at baseline did not show recruitment of this activity post-AIH ( n = 6). A repeat hypoxia 60 min after AIH produced a significantly greater peak response in both phrenic and RLN activity, accompanied by a prolonged recovery time that was also prevented by pretreatment with methysergide. We conclude that AIH induces neural plasticity in laryngeal motoneurons, via serotonin-mediated mechanisms similar to that observed in phrenic motoneurons: the so-called “Q-pathway”. We also provide evidence that the augmented responsiveness to repeat hypoxia following AIH also involves a serotonergic mechanism.

2001 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 2001-2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. Fuller ◽  
A. G. Zabka ◽  
T. L. Baker ◽  
G. S. Mitchell

Episodic hypoxia evokes a sustained augmentation of respiratory motor output known as long-term facilitation (LTF). Phrenic LTF is prevented by pretreatment with the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor antagonist ketanserin. We tested the hypothesis that 5-HT receptor activation is necessary for the induction but not maintenance of phrenic LTF. Peak integrated phrenic nerve activity (∫Phr) was monitored for 1 h after three 5-min episodes of isocapnic hypoxia (arterial Po 2 = 40 ± 2 Torr; 5-min hyperoxic intervals) in four groups of anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed, and ventilated Sprague-Dawley rats [ 1) control ( n = 11), 2) ketanserin pretreatment (2 mg/kg iv; n = 7), and ketanserin treatment 0 and 45 min after episodic hypoxia ( n = 7 each)]. Ketanserin transiently decreased ∫Phr, but it returned to baseline levels within 10 min. One hour after episodic hypoxia, ∫Phr was significantly elevated from baseline in control and in the 0- and 45-min posthypoxia ketanserin groups. Conversely, ketanserin pretreatment abolished phrenic LTF. We conclude that 5-HT receptor activation is necessary to initiate (during hypoxia) but not maintain (following hypoxia) phrenic LTF.


2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. FULLER ◽  
T. L. BAKER ◽  
M. BEHAN ◽  
G. S. MITCHELL

Long-term facilitation (LTF) is a prolonged, serotonin-dependent augmentation of respiratory motor output following episodic hypoxia. Previous observations lead us to hypothesize that LTF is subject to genetic influences and, as a result, differs between Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats from two vendors, Harlan (H) and Charles River Laboratories/Sasco (CRL/S). Using a blinded experimental design, we recorded integrated phrenic (∫Phr) and hypoglossal neurograms in anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed, and ventilated rats. At 60 min following three 5-min hypoxic episodes (PaO2 = 40 ± 1 Torr; 5-min hyperoxic intervals), ∫Phr was elevated from baseline in both SD substrains (i.e., LTF; P < 0.05). Conversely, hypoglossal LTF was present in CRL/S but not H rats ( P < 0.05 between substrains). Serotonin immunoreactivity within the hypoglossal nucleus was not different between H and CRL/S rats. We conclude that the expression of hypoglossal LTF differs between SD rat substrains, indicating a difference in their genetic predisposition to neural plasticity.


2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (2) ◽  
pp. R334-R341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle McGuire ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
David P. White ◽  
Liming Ling

Respiratory long-term facilitation (LTF), a serotonin-dependent, persistent augmentation of respiratory activity after episodic hypoxia, is enhanced by pretreatment of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH; 5 min 11-12% O2-5 min air, 12 h/night for 7 nights). The present study examined the effects of methysergide (serotonin 5-HT1,2,5,6,7 receptor antagonist), ketanserin (5-HT2 antagonist), or clozapine (5-HT2,6,7 antagonist) on both ventilatory LTF and the CIH effect on ventilatory LTF in conscious male adult rats to determine which specific receptor subtype(s) is involved. In untreated rats (i.e., animals not exposed to CIH), LTF, induced by five episodes of 5-min poikilocapnic hypoxia (10% O2) separated by 5-min normoxic intervals, was measured twice by plethysmography. Thus the measurement was conducted 1-2 days before (as control) and ∼1 h after systemic injection of methysergide (1 mg/kg ip), ketanserin (1 mg/kg), or clozapine (1.5 mg/kg). Resting ventilation, metabolic rate, and hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) were unchanged, but LTF (∼18% above baseline) was eliminated by each drug. In CIH-treated rats, LTF was also measured twice, before and ∼8 h after CIH. Vehicle, methysergide, ketanserin, or clozapine was injected ∼1 h before the second measurement. Neither resting ventilation nor metabolic rate was changed after CIH and/or any drug. HVR was unchanged after methysergide and ketanserin but reduced in four of seven clozapine rats. The CIH-enhanced LTF (∼28%) was abolished by methysergide and clozapine but only attenuated by ketanserin (to ∼10%). Collectively, these data suggest that ventilatory LTF requires 5-HT2 receptors and that the CIH effect on LTF requires non-5-HT2 serotonin receptors, probably 5-HT6 and/or 5-HT7 subtype(s).


2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 1184-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Hoffman ◽  
N. L. Nichols ◽  
P. M. Macfarlane ◽  
G. S. Mitchell

Acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) elicits a form of spinal respiratory plasticity known as phrenic long-term facilitation (pLTF). pLTF requires spinal serotonin receptor-2 activation, the synthesis of new brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and the activation of its high-affinity receptor tyrosine kinase, TrkB. Spinal adenosine 2A receptor activation elicits a distinct pathway to phrenic motor facilitation (pMF); this BDNF synthesis-independent pathway instead requires new synthesis of an immature TrkB isoform. Since hypoxia increases extracellular adenosine levels, we tested the hypothesis that new synthesis of TrkB and BDNF contribute to AIH-induced pLTF. Furthermore, given that signaling mechanisms “downstream” from TrkB are unknown in either mechanism, we tested the hypothesis that pLTF requires MEK/ERK and/or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt activation. In anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats, an intrathecal catheter at cervical level 4 was used to deliver drugs near the phrenic motor nucleus. Since pLTF was blocked by spinal injections of small interfering RNAs targeting BDNF mRNA but not TrkB mRNA, only new BDNF synthesis is required for AIH-induced pLTF. Pretreatment with a MEK inhibitor (U0126) blocked pLTF, whereas a PI3K inhibitor (PI-828) had no effect. Thus, AIH-induced pLTF requires MEK/ERK (not PI3K/AKT) signaling pathways. When U0126 was injected post-AIH, pLTF development was halted but not reversed, suggesting that ERK is critical for the development but not maintenance of pLTF. Thus, there are clear mechanistic distinctions between AIH-induced pLTF (i.e., BDNF synthesis and MEK/ERK dependent) versus adenosine 2A receptor-induced pMF (i.e., TrkB synthesis and PI3K/Akt dependent).


2015 ◽  
Vol 119 (12) ◽  
pp. 1455-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa J. Gonzalez-Rothi ◽  
Kun-Ze Lee ◽  
Erica A. Dale ◽  
Paul J. Reier ◽  
Gordon S. Mitchell ◽  
...  

In recent years, it has become clear that brief, repeated presentations of hypoxia [i.e., acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH)] can boost the efficacy of more traditional therapeutic strategies in certain cases of neurologic dysfunction. This hypothesis derives from a series of studies in animal models and human subjects performed over the past 35 yr. In 1980, Millhorn et al. (Millhorn DE, Eldridge FL, Waldrop TG. Respir Physiol 41: 87-103, 1980) showed that electrical stimulation of carotid chemoafferent neurons produced a persistent, serotonin-dependent increase in phrenic motor output that outlasts the stimulus for more than 90 min (i.e., a “respiratory memory”). AIH elicits similar phrenic “long-term facilitation” (LTF) by a mechanism that requires cervical spinal serotonin receptor activation and de novo protein synthesis. From 2003 to present, a series of studies demonstrated that AIH can induce neuroplasticity in the injured spinal cord, causing functional recovery of breathing capacity after cervical spinal injury. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that repeated AIH (rAIH) can induce recovery of limb function, and the functional benefits of rAIH are greatest when paired with task-specific training. Since uncontrolled and/or prolonged intermittent hypoxia can elicit pathophysiology, a challenge of intermittent hypoxia research is to ensure that therapeutic protocols are well below the threshold for pathogenesis. This is possible since many low dose rAIH protocols have induced functional benefits without evidence of pathology. We propose that carefully controlled rAIH is a safe and noninvasive modality that can be paired with other neurorehabilitative strategies including traditional activity-based physical therapy or cell-based therapies such as intraspinal transplantation of neural progenitors.


2003 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 1499-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle McGuire ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
David P. White ◽  
Liming Ling

This study examined the effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH: 5 min 11-12% O2/5 min air, 12 h/night, 7 nights) on ventilatory long-term facilitation (LTF) and determined the persistence period of this CIH effect in awake rats. LTF, elicited by 5 or 10 episodes of 5 min 12% O2, was measured four times in the same Sprague-Dawley rats by plethysmography, before and 8 h, 3 days, and 7 days after CIH treatment. Resting ventilation was unchanged after CIH. Five episodes of 12% O2 did not initially elicit LTF but elicited LTF (23.5 ± 1.4% above baseline) 8 h after CIH, which partially remained at 3 days (11.4 ± 2.2%, P < 0.05) and disappeared at 7 days. Ten episodes initially elicited LTF (17.7 ± 1.1%, 45-min duration) and elicited an enhanced LTF (29.1 ± 1.5%, 75 min) 8 h after CIH. These results demonstrated that CIH enhanced ventilatory LTF in conscious, freely behaving rats in two ways: 1) a previously ineffective protocol induced LTF; and 2) LTF magnitude was increased and LTF duration prolonged, and this CIH effect on LTF persisted for at least 3 days.


2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 709-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Olson ◽  
C. J. Bohne ◽  
M. R. Dwinell ◽  
A. Podolsky ◽  
E. H. Vidruk ◽  
...  

We tested the hypothesis that unanesthetized rats exhibit ventilatory long-term facilitation (LTF) after intermittent, but not continuous, hypoxia. Minute ventilation (V˙e) and carbon dioxide production (V˙co 2) were measured in unanesthetized, unrestrained male Sprague-Dawley rats via barometric plethysmography before, during, and after exposure to continuous or intermittent hypoxia. Hypoxia was either isocapnic [inspired O2 fraction (Fi O2 ) = 0.08–0.09 and inspired CO2 fraction (Fi CO2 ) = 0.04] or poikilocapnic (Fi O2 = 0.11 and Fi CO2 = 0.00). Sixty minutes after intermittent hypoxia, V˙e orV˙e/V˙co 2 was significantly greater than baseline in both isocapnic and poikilocapnic conditions. In contrast, 60 min after continuous hypoxia,V˙e andV˙e/V˙co 2 were not significantly different from baseline values. These data demonstrate ventilatory LTF after intermittent hypoxia in unanesthetized rats. Ventilatory LTF appeared similar in its magnitude (after accounting for CO2 feedback), time course, and dependence on intermittent hypoxia to phrenic LTF previously observed in anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed rats.


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