Edward H. Vidruk

Chemoafferent degeneration and carotid body hypoplasia following chronic hyperoxia in newborn rats

1 To define the role of environmental oxygen in regulating postnatal maturation of the carotid body afferent pathway, light and electron microscopic methods were used to compare chemoafferent neurone survival and carotid body development in newborn rats reared from birth in normoxia (21 % O2) or chronic hyperoxia (60 % O2). 2 Four weeks of chronic hyperoxia resulted in a significant 41 % decrease in the number of unmyelinated axons in the carotid sinus nerve, compared with age‐matched normoxic controls. In contrast, the number of myelinated axons was unaffected by hyperoxic exposure. 3 Chemoafferent neurones, located in the glossopharyngeal petrosal ganglion, already exhibited degenerative changes following 1 week of hyperoxia from birth, indicating that even a relatively short hyperoxic exposure was sufficient to derange normal chemoafferent development. In contrast, no such changes were observed in the vagal nodose ganglion, demonstrating that the effect of high oxygen levels was specific to sensory neurones in the carotid body afferent pathway. Moreover, petrosal ganglion neurones were sensitive to hyperoxic exposure only during the early postnatal period. 4 Chemoafferent degeneration in chronically hyperoxic animals was accompanied by marked hypoplasia of the carotid body. In view of previous findings from our laboratory that chemoafferent neurones require trophic support from the carotid body for survival after birth, we propose that chemoafferent degeneration following chronic hyperoxia is due specifically to the loss of target tissue in the carotid body.

Attenuation of the hypoxic ventilatory response in adult rats following one month of perinatal hyperoxia.

1. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that perinatal suppression of peripheral arterial chemoreceptor inputs attenuates the hypoxic ventilatory response in adult rats. Perinatal suppression of peripheral chemoreceptor activity was achieved by exposing rats to hyperoxia throughout the first month of life. 2. Late‐gestation pregnant rats were housed in a 60% O2 environment, exposing the pups to hyperoxia from several days prior to birth until they were returned to normoxia on postnatal day 28. These perinatally treated rats were then reared to adulthood (3‐5 months old) in normoxia. In addition to the mother rats, adult male rats were also exposed to hyperoxia, creating an adult‐treated control group. Two to four months after the hyperoxic exposure, treated rats were compared with untreated male rats of similar age. 3. A whole‐body, flow‐through plethysmograph was used to measure hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory responses of the unanaesthetized adult rats. In moderate hypoxia (arterial oxygen partial pressure, Pa,O2 approximately 48 mmHg). VE (minute ventilation) and the ratio VE/VCO2 (ventilation relative to CO2 production) increased by 16.7 +/‐ 4.0 and 35.4 +/‐ 3.4%, respectively, in perinatal‐treated rats (means +/‐ S.E.M.), but increased more in untreated control rats (51.4 +/‐ 2.8 and 83.1 +/‐ 4.3%; both P < 10(‐6)). 4. In contrast to the impaired hypoxic ventilatory response, ventilatory responses to hypercapnia (5% CO2) were similar between untreated control and perinatal‐treated rats. 5. Impaired hypoxic responsiveness was unique to the perinatal‐treated rats since hypoxic ventilatory responses were not attenuated in adult‐treated rats. 6. The results indicate that ventilatory responses to hypoxaemia are greatly attenuated in adult rats that had experienced hyperoxia during their first month of life, and suggest that normal hypoxic ventilatory control mechanisms are susceptible to developmental plasticity.

Developmental plasticity of the hypoxic ventilatory response.

This paper will describe recent studies concerning the existence of developmental plasticity in the hypoxic ventilatory control system and the locus of the functional impairment following perinatal sensory suppression. Suppression of peripheral arterial chemoreceptor activity was achieved by exposing rats to hyperoxia (60% O2) for the first month of life; all measurements were conducted 2-5 months after the exposure (perinatal treated rats). Hypoxic (but not hypercapnic) ventilatory responses were severely attenuated in awake perinatal treated rats, but not in rats exposed to hyperoxia as adults, indicating that the persistent effect is unique to development and is not the nonspecific result of O2 toxicity. Impairments of the hypoxic ventilatory response due to changes in pulmonary mechanics, gas exchange or central integration of carotid chemoafferent inputs were all ruled out as primary causal factors. However, a persistent impairment of carotid chemotransduction in perinatal treated rats was apparent. These studies suggest that the hypoxic ventilatory response is susceptible to developmental plasticity, and that a carotid chemoreceptor deficit is the primary cause. These findings may have important clinical implications for patients subjected to excessive O2 therapy during neonatal intensive care.

Integrated phrenic responses to carotid afferent stimulation in adult rats following perinatal hyperoxia.

1. Hypoxic ventilatory responses are greatly attenuated in adult rats exposed to moderate hyperoxia (60% O2) during the first month of life (perinatal treated rats). The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that perinatal hyperoxia impairs central integration of carotid chemoreceptor afferent inputs, thereby diminishing the hypoxic ventilatory response. 2. Time‐dependent phrenic nerve responses to electrical stimulation of the carotid sinus nerve (CSN) and steady‐state relationships between CSN stimulation frequency and phrenic nerve output were compared in control and perinatal treated rats. The rats were urethane anaesthetized, vagotomized, paralysed and artificially ventilated. End‐tidal CO2 was monitored and maintained at isocapnic levels; arterial blood gases were determined. 3. Two stimulation protocols were used: (1) three 2 min episodes of CSN stimulation (20 Hz, 0.2 ms duration, 3 x threshold), separated by 5 min intervals; and (2) nine 45 s episodes of CSN stimulation with stimulus frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 20 Hz (0.2 ms duration, 3 x threshold), separated by 4 min intervals. 4. The mean threshold currents to elicit phrenic responses were similar between groups. Burst frequency (f, burst min‐1), peak amplitude of integrated phrenic activity (integral of Phr), and minute phrenic activity (integral of Phr x f) during and after CSN stimulation were not distinguishable between groups in either protocol at any time or at any stimulus intensity (P > 0.05). 5. Perinatal hyperoxia does not alter temporal or steady‐state phrenic responses to CSN stimulation, suggesting that the central integration of carotid chemoreceptor afferent inputs is not impaired in perinatal treated rats. It is speculated that carotid chemoreceptors per se are impaired in perinatal treated rats.

Monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism during acclimatization to hypoxia in rats

The levels and turnovers of NE, DA and 5HT were determined in whole brain, brain stem, cervical and thoracic spinal cord and carotid bodies (CB) of rats exposed to from 1 h to 7 days of hypobaric hypoxia (PB = 450 torr). Monoamine levels decreased only transiently upon acute exposure to hypoxia. Monoamine turnover in the CNS was estimated from the average of (a) monoamine buildup following inhibition of catabolism, and (b) monoamine breakdown following inhibition of synthesis. Hypoxic effects on CNS monoamine turnover showed that: (a) NE was not affected; (b) DA was not affected in acute hypoxia, but was reduced to about 40% of normoxia control after 1-7 days hypoxia; (c) 5HT fell 50-60% during acute hypoxia but returned to and was maintained at control over 1-7 days of hypoxia; (d) acute restoration of normoxia following acute hypoxia restored 5HT and DA to control or above and in the acclimatized animal acute normoxia increased DA and 5HT turnover to about 1.4 and 1.8 X control. In the CB, DA levels gradually increased to 4 X control after 7 days of hypoxia and further increased to 6 X control upon acute restoration of normoxia. Changes in the metabolism of both central 5HT and CB DA may be related to the mechanisms mediating ventilatory acclimatization to chronic hypoxia.

Life-long impairment of hypoxic phrenic responses in rats following 1 month of developmental hyperoxia

Hypoxic ventilatory and phrenic responses are reduced in adult rats (3–5 months old) exposed to hyperoxia for the first month of life (hyperoxia treated). We previously reported that hypoxic phrenic responses were normal in a small sample of 14‐ to 15‐month‐old hyperoxia‐treated rats, suggesting slow, spontaneous recovery. Subsequent attempts to identify the mechanism(s) underlying this spontaneous recovery of hypoxic phrenic responses led us to re‐evaluate our earlier conclusion. Experiments were conducted in two groups of aged Sprague‐Dawley rats (14–15 months old) which were anaesthetized, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked and ventilated: (1) a hyperoxia‐treated group raised in 60 % O2 for the first 28 postnatal days; and (2) an age‐matched control group raised in normoxia. Increases in minute phrenic activity and integrated phrenic nerve amplitude (∫Phr) during isocapnic hypoxia (arterial partial pressures of O2, 60, 50 and 40 ± 1 mmHg) were greater in aged control (n= 15) than hyperoxia‐treated rats (n= 11; P⩽ 0.01). Phrenic burst frequency during hypoxia was not different between groups. To examine the central integration of carotid chemoafferent inputs, steady‐state relationships between carotid sinus nerve (electrical) stimulation frequency and phrenic nerve activity were compared in aged control (n= 7) and hyperoxia‐treated rats (n= 7). Minute phrenic activity, ∫Phr and burst frequency were not different between groups at any stimulation frequency between 0.5 and 20 Hz. Carotid body chemoreceptor function was examined by recording whole carotid sinus nerve responses to cessation of ventilation or injection of cyanide in aged control and hyperoxia‐treated rats. Electrical activity of the carotid sinus nerve did not change in five out of five hyperoxia‐treated rats in response to stimuli that evoked robust increases in carotid sinus nerve activity in five out of five control rats. Estimates of carotid body volume were lower in aged hyperoxia‐treated rats (4.4 (± 0.2) × 106μm3) compared to controls (17.4 (± 1.6) × 106μm3; P <0.01). We conclude that exposure to hyperoxia for the first month of life causes life‐long impairment of carotid chemoreceptor function and, consequently, blunted phrenic responses to hypoxia.

Developmental plasticity of the hypoxic ventilatory response in rats induced by neonatal hypoxia.

Neonatal hypoxia alters the development of the hypoxic ventilatory response in rats and other mammals. Here we demonstrate that neonatal hypoxia impairs the hypoxic ventilatory response in adult male, but not adult female, rats. Rats were raised in 10% O2 for the first postnatal week, beginning within 12 h after birth. Subsequently, ventilatory responses were assessed in 7‐ to 9‐week‐old unanaesthetized rats via whole‐body plethysmography. In response to 12% O2, male rats exposed to neonatal hypoxia increased ventilation less than untreated control rats (mean ±s.e.m. 35.2 ± 7.7%versus 67.4 ± 9.1%, respectively; P= 0.01). In contrast, neonatal hypoxia had no lasting effect on hypoxic ventilatory responses in female rats (67.9 ± 12.6%versus 61.2 ± 11.7% increase in hypoxia‐treated and control rats, respectively; P > 0.05). Normoxic ventilation was unaffected by neonatal hypoxia in either sex at 7–9 weeks of age (P > 0.05). Since we hypothesized that neonatal hypoxia alters the hypoxic ventilatory response at the level of peripheral chemoreceptors or the central neural integration of chemoafferent activity, integrated phrenic responses to isocapnic hypoxia were investigated in urethane‐anaesthetized, paralysed and ventilated rats. Phrenic responses were unaffected by neonatal hypoxia in rats of either sex (P > 0.05), suggesting that neonatal hypoxia‐induced plasticity occurs between the phrenic nerve and the generation of airflow (e.g. neuromuscular junction, respiratory muscles or respiratory mechanics) and is not due to persistent changes in hypoxic chemosensitivity or central neural integration. The basis of sex differences in this developmental plasticity is unknown.

Phrenic responses to isocapnic hypoxia in adult rats following perinatal hyperoxia

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that carotid body-mediated, phrenic nerve responses to hypoxia are attenuated in adult rats that had been previously exposed to perinatal hyperoxia (one month of 60% O2; perinatal treated rats.) Integrated phrenic nerve responses to strictly controlled isocapnic hypoxia were measured in urethane-anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed and ventilated adult rats 2-5 months after perinatal hyperoxia, before and after bilateral carotid denervation. In untreated control rats, phrenic burst frequency, peak amplitude of integrated phrenic activity and minute phrenic activity increased 21 +/- 3 bursts/min (mean +/- SE), 158 +/- 20% and 279 +/- 34%, respectively, during hypoxia (50 Torr PaO2). In contrast, phrenic nerve activity increased to a significantly lesser degree in perinatal treated rats (frequency, 12 +/- 2 bursts/min; amplitude, 87 +/- 13%; minute activity, 150 +/- 19%; all P < 0.05). Hypoxic phrenic responses were abolished by carotid degeneration in both rat groups. In rats exposed to hyperoxia as adults, hypoxic phrenic responses were not attenuated versus untreated control rats. The data indicate that carotid body-mediated, isocapnic hypoxic chemoreflexes are impaired in perinatal treated rats, an effect unique to development. These effects cannot be accounted for by differences in blood gases (O2 or CO2) or pulmonary mechanics.

Endogenous excitatory drive to the respiratory system in rapid eye movement sleep in cats

1 A putative endogenous excitatory drive to the respiratory system in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may explain many characteristics of breathing in that state, e.g. its irregularity and variable ventilatory responses to chemical stimuli. This drive is hypothetical, and determinations of its existence and character are complicated by control of the respiratory system by the oscillator and its feedback mechanisms. In the present study, endogenous drive was studied during apnoea caused by mechanical hyperventilation. We reasoned that if there was a REM‐dependent drive to the respiratory system, then respiratory activity should emerge out of the background apnoea as a manifestation of the drive. 2 Diaphragmatic muscle or medullary respiratory neuronal activity was studied in five intact, unanaesthetized adult cats who were either mechanically hyperventilated or breathed spontaneously in more than 100 REM sleep periods. 3 Diaphragmatic activity emerged out of a background apnoea caused by mechanical hyperventilation an average of 34 s after the onset of REM sleep. Emergent activity occurred in 60 % of 10 s epochs in REM sleep and the amount of activity per unit time averaged approximately 40 % of eupnoeic activity. The activity occurred in episodes and was poorly related to pontogeniculo‐occipital waves. At low CO2 levels, this activity was non‐rhythmic. At higher CO2 levels (less than 0.5 % below eupnoeic end‐tidal percentage CO2 levels in non‐REM (NREM) sleep), activity became rhythmic. 4 Medullary respiratory neurons were recorded in one of the five animals. Nineteen of twenty‐seven medullary respiratory neurons were excited in REM sleep during apnoea. Excited neurons included inspiratory, expiratory and phase‐spanning neurons. Excitation began about 43 s after the onset of REM sleep. Activity increased from an average of 6 impulses s−1 in NREM sleep to 15.5 impulses s−1 in REM sleep. Neuronal activity was non‐rhythmic at low CO2 levels and became rhythmic when levels were less than 0.5 % below eupnoeic end‐tidal levels in NREM sleep. The level of CO2 at which rhythmic neuronal activity developed corresponded to eupnoeic end‐tidal CO2 levels in REM sleep. 5 These results demonstrate an endogenous excitatory drive to the respiratory system in REM sleep and account for rapid and irregular breathing and the lower set‐point to CO2 in that state.

Responses of single‐unit carotid body chemoreceptors in adult rats

1 Our goal was to describe the in situ responses in rats of single‐unit carotid body chemoreceptors to changes in arterial PO2 and PCO2. We identified single‐unit carotid chemoreceptor activity in male, adult Sprague‐Dawley rats by their rapid responses to i.v. NaCN (20 μg) and transient (10 s) asphyxia. 2 Single‐unit chemoreceptor responses to isocapnic changes in oxygenation within the arterial oxygen pressure range 34‐114 mmHg were described by the power function: fdis= 74010(P  a,O 2 )−2.5; (r2= 0.6), where fdis is the discharge frequency (spikes s−1), P  a,O 2 is the arterial oxygen partial pressure (mmHg) and r2 is the correlation coefficient. 3 The responses to iso‐oxic changes in CO2, assumed to be linear, had a slope of 0.089 spikes s−1 (mmHg Pa,CO2)−1 (r2= 0.7). 4 We conclude that carotid body chemoreceptors in adult rats have responses to changes in P  a,O 2 and Pa,CO2 similar to those of other species.