scholarly journals Contribution of the carotid body chemoreceptors to eupneic ventilation in the intact, unanesthetized dog

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 1564-1573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grégory M. Blain ◽  
Curtis A. Smith ◽  
Kathleen S. Henderson ◽  
Jerome A. Dempsey

We used extracorporeal perfusion of the reversibly isolated carotid sinus region to determine the effects of specific carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor inhibition on eupneic ventilation (V̇i) in the resting, awake, intact dog. Four female spayed dogs were studied during wakefulness when CB was perfused with 1) normoxic, normocapnic blood; and 2) hyperoxic (>500 mmHg), hypocapnic (∼20 mmHg) blood to maximally inhibit the CB tonic activity. We found that CB perfusion per se (normoxic-normocapnic) had no effect on V̇i. CB inhibition caused marked reductions in V̇i (−60%, range 49–80%) and inspiratory flow rate (−58%, range 44–87%) 24–41 s following the onset of CB perfusion. Thereafter, a partial compensatory response was observed, and a steady state in V̇i was reached after 50–76 s following the onset of CB perfusion. This steady-state tidal volume-mediated hypoventilation (∼31%) coincided with a significant reduction in mean diaphragm electromyogram (−24%) and increase in mean arterial pressure (+12 mmHg), which persisted for 7–25 min until CB perfusion was stopped, despite a substantial increase in CO2 retention (+9 Torr, arterial Pco2) and systemic respiratory acidosis. We interpret these data to mean that CB chemoreceptors contribute more than one-half to the total eupneic drive to breathe in the normoxic, intact, awake animal. We speculate that this CB contribution consists of both the normal tonic sensory input from the CB chemoreceptors to medullary respiratory controllers, as well as a strong modulatory effect on central chemoreceptor responsiveness to CO2.

1984 ◽  
Vol 247 (1) ◽  
pp. R24-R28 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lahiri ◽  
N. Smatresk ◽  
M. Pokorski ◽  
P. Barnard ◽  
A. Mokashi ◽  
...  

The observations that the dopamine concentration of the carotid body and efferent inhibition of carotid chemoreceptors are increased during chronic hypoxia led to the hypothesis that the inhibition was due to the effect of an increased dopamine release by the activity of carotid sinus nerve (CSN) efferents. The hypothesis was tested by measuring the effect of dopamine receptor blockade on efferent inhibition of carotid chemosensory responses to graded levels of arterial O2 partial pressure in chronically hypoxic and normoxic cats. Chronically hypoxic cats were prepared by exposing the cats to 10% O2 at sea level for 30–34 days. Carotid chemosensory activity was first measured from a slip of an otherwise intact CSN. The measurements were then repeated after sectioning the remaining nerve trunk. The effect of sectioning the CSN provided the measure of efferent inhibition. In each group of cats the effects of sectioning the CSN with and without dopamine receptor blockade by haloperidol were also studied. CSN section augmented the chemosensory responses in the chronically hypoxic cats. Haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist, augmented the responses further, indicating that a part of the endogenous dopamine effect was independent of the CSN efferents. After haloperidol treatment CSN section did not influence the chemosensory responses. This study confirmed that the efferent inhibition significantly increased in the chronically hypoxic cats and demonstrated that haloperidol blocked the efferent inhibition, suggesting that the mechanism of the augmented inhibition is dopaminergic.


2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (8) ◽  
pp. 774-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis A Smith ◽  
Hideaki Nakayama ◽  
Jerome A Dempsey

Sleep apnea is attributable, in part, to an unstable ventilatory control system and specifically to a narrowed "CO2 reserve" (i.e., the difference in PaCO2 between eupnea and the apneic threshold). Findings from sleeping animal preparations with denervated carotid chemoreceptors or vascularly isolated, perfused carotid chemoreceptors demonstrate the critical importance of peripheral chemoreceptors to the ventilatory responses to dynamic changes in PaCO2. Specifically, (i) carotid body denervation prevented the apnea and periodic breathing that normally follow transient ventilatory overshoots; (ii) the CO2 reserve for peripheral chemoreceptors was about one half that for brain chemoreceptors; and (iii) hypocapnia isolated to the carotid chemoreceptors caused hypoventilation that persisted over time despite a concomitant, progressive brain respiratory acidosis. Observations in both humans and animals are cited to demonstrate the marked plasticity of the CO2 reserve and, therefore, the propensity for apneas and periodic breathing, in response to changing background ventilatory stimuli.Key words: sleep apnea, carotid bodies, hypocapnia, apneic threshold, periodic breathing.


1976 ◽  
Vol 230 (6) ◽  
pp. 1494-1498 ◽  
Author(s):  
SR Sampson ◽  
MJ Aminoff ◽  
RA Jaffe ◽  
EH Vidruk

The inhibitory effect of dopamine on carotid body chemoreceptors was studied in anesthetized cats to determine whether it was dependent on changes in blood flow in the vicinity of the receptors. The blood supply to the carotid body was isolated, and flow was controlled with a perfusion pump. Single- or few-fiber recordings were made from the peripheral end of the cut carotid sinus nerve in seven cats. The rate of discharge of 68 chemoreceptor strands increased when flow through the carotid body was stopped. This response was reduced or abolished by dopamine in animals ventilated with either room air (15 strands) or a gas mixture of 95% O2 and 5% CO2 (53 strands). These results suggest that dopamine exerts its inhibitory effect primarily through a direct action on the chemoreceptors rather than by a vasomotor effect in the carotid body.


1988 ◽  
Vol 401 (1) ◽  
pp. 519-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Burger ◽  
J A Estavillo ◽  
P Kumar ◽  
P C Nye ◽  
D J Paterson

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 487-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Siński ◽  
Jacek Lewandowski ◽  
Jacek Przybylski ◽  
Joanna Bidiuk ◽  
Piotr Abramczyk ◽  
...  

1988 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 666-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Olson ◽  
E. H. Vidruk ◽  
J. A. Dempsey

We determined the effects of carotid body excision (CBX) on eupneic ventilation and the ventilatory responses to acute hypoxia, hyperoxia, and chronic hypoxia in unanesthetized rats. Arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) and calculated minute alveolar ventilation to minute metabolic CO2 production (VA/VCO2) ratio were used to determine the ventilatory responses. The effects of CBX and sham operation were compared with intact controls (PaCO2 = 40.0 +/- 0.1 Torr, mean +/- 95% confidence limits, and VA/VCO2 = 21.6 +/- 0.1). CBX rats showed 1) chronic hypoventilation with respiratory acidosis, which was maintained for at least 75 days after surgery (PaCO2 = 48.4 +/- 1.1 Torr and VA/VCO2 = 17.9 +/- 0.4), 2) hyperventilation in response to acute hyperoxia vs. hypoventilation in intact rats, 3) an attenuated increase in VA/VCO2 in acute hypoxemia (arterial PO2 approximately equal to 49 Torr), which was 31% of the 8.7 +/- 0.3 increase in VA/VCO2 observed in control rats, 4) no ventilatory acclimatization between 1 and 24 h hypoxia, whereas intact rats had a further 7.5 +/- 1.5 increase in VA/VCO2, 5) a decreased PaCO2 upon acute restoration of normoxia after 24 h hypoxia in contrast to an increased PaCO2 in controls. We conclude that in rats carotid body chemoreceptors are essential to maintain normal eupneic ventilation and to the process of ventilatory acclimatization to chronic hypoxia.


2006 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Smith ◽  
J. R. Rodman ◽  
B. J. A. Chenuel ◽  
K. S. Henderson ◽  
J. A. Dempsey

We assessed the speed of the ventilatory response to square-wave changes in alveolar Pco2 and the relative gains of the steady-state ventilatory response to CO2 of the central chemoreceptors vs. the carotid body chemoreceptors in intact, unanesthetized dogs. We used extracorporeal perfusion of the reversibly isolated carotid sinus to maintain normal tonic activity of the carotid body chemoreceptor while preventing it from sensing systemic changes in CO2, thereby allowing us to determine the response of the central chemoreceptors alone. We found the following. 1) The ventilatory response of the central chemoreceptors alone is 11.2 (SD = 3.6) s slower than when carotid bodies are allowed to sense CO2 changes. 2) On average, the central chemoreceptors contribute ∼63% of the gain to steady-state increases in CO2. There was wide dog-to-dog variability in the relative contributions of central vs. carotid body chemoreceptors; the central exceeded the carotid body gain in four of six dogs, but in two dogs carotid body gain exceeded central CO2 gain. If humans respond similarly to dogs, we propose that the slower response of the central chemoreceptors vs. the carotid chemoreceptors prevents the central chemoreceptors from contributing significantly to ventilatory responses to rapid, transient changes in arterial Pco2 such as those after periods of hypoventilation or hyperventilation (“ventilatory undershoots or overshoots”) observed during sleep-disordered breathing. However, the greater average responsiveness of the central chemoreceptors to brain hypercapnia in the steady-state suggests that these receptors may contribute significantly to ventilatory overshoots once unstable/periodic breathing is fully established.


1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. R368-R375 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. Mifflin

The arterial chemoreceptors play an important role in the reflex regulation of blood pressure and respiration. To investigate the initial integration of chemoreceptor inputs within the central nervous system, intracellular recordings were obtained in pentobarbital-anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated cats, from 58 cells within the nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) that were depolarized by activation of the ipsilateral carotid body chemoreceptors. Close arterial injection of less than 100 microliters CO2-saturated bicarbonate evoked depolarizations of membrane potential with amplitudes of 2.2-4.6 mV and durations of 1.8-6.7 s in 46 cells. In 12 cells, activation of the carotid body chemoreceptors evoked a depolarization-hyperpolarization sequence. Electrical stimulation of the carotid sinus nerve (500 microA, 0.2 ms) evoked EPSPs [mean latency 6.4 +/- 0.5 (SE) ms; range 2.1-18.4 ms] in 46 cells and EPSP-IPSPs (7.3 +/- 0.8 ms; range 4.2-12.4 ms) in 12 cells. The distribution of EPSP latencies exhibited two peaks, one in the 2- to 4-ms range and another in the 7- to 8-ms range. Twenty-nine chemoreceptive cells were tested for the presence of convergent inputs from the ipsilateral carotid sinus baroreceptors. No evidence was found of a convergent postsynaptic inhibitory input from the baroreceptors within the NTS; however, seven cells were found that received an excitatory input from the baroreceptors. The observation that NTS neurons do not integrate chemoreceptor afferent inputs in a homogeneous manner suggests that the multiplicity of NTS unit responses might be related to the specific reflex function of an individual cell (e.g., vagal or sympathetic outflow, respiration).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


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