Rodrigo Del Rio

Chronic intermittent hypoxia enhances cat chemosensory and ventilatory responses to hypoxia

The carotid body (CB) chemoreceptors may play an important role in the enhanced hypoxic ventilatory response induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). We studied the effects of cyclic hypoxic episodes of short duration on cat cardiorespiratory reflexes, heart rate variability, and CB chemosensory activity. Cats were exposed to cyclic hypoxic episodes (P  O 2 ∼ 75 Torr) repeated during 8 h for 2–4 days. Cats were anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone (40 mg kg−1i.p., followed by 8–12 mg i.v.), and ventilatory and cardiovascular responses to NaCN (0.1–100 μg kg−1i.v.) and several isocapnic levels of oxygen (P  O 2 ∼ 20–740 Torr) were studied. After studying the reflex responses, we recorded the CB chemosensory responses induced by the same stimuli. Results showed that CIH for 4 days selectively enhanced cat CB ventilatory (VT and VI) responses to hypoxia, while responses to NaCN remained largely unchanged. Similarly, basal CB discharges and responses to acute hypoxia (P  O 2 < 100 Torr) were larger in CIH than in control cats, without modification of the responses to NaCN. Exposure to CIH did not increase basal arterial pressure, heart rate, or their changes induced by acute hypoxia or hyperoxia. However, the spectral analysis of heart rate variability of CIH cats showed a marked increase of the low‐/high‐frequency ratio and an increase of the power spectral distribution of low frequencies of heart rate variability. Thus, the enhanced CB reactivity to hypoxia may contribute to the augmented ventilatory response to hypoxia, as well as to modified heart rate variability due to early changes in autonomic activity.

Carotid body denervation improves autonomic and cardiac function and attenuates disordered breathing in congestive heart failure

A strong correlation between disordered breathing patterns, elevated sympathetic nerve activity and enhanced chemoreflex sensitivity exists in patients with heart failure. Evidence indicates that disordered breathing patterns and increased sympathetic nerve activity increases arrhythmia incidence in patients with heart failure. Enhanced coupling between sympathetic and respiratory neural drive underlies elevated sympathetic nerve activity in an animal model of sleep apnoea. We investigated the impact of carotid body chemoreceptor denervation on sympathetic nerve activity, disordered breathing and sympatho‐respiratory coupling in an animal model of heart failure. Renal sympathetic nerve activity, apnoea/hypopnoea incidence, variability measures of tidal volume and respiratory rate and arrhythmia incidence were quantified during resting breathing in heart failure animals with and without carotid body ablation. Our results indicate that carotid body chemoreceptor denervation reduces sympathetic nerve activity, disordered breathing patterns, arrhythmia incidence and sympatho‐respiratory coupling in experimental heart failure. These findings suggest that device‐oriented ablation of carotid body chemoreceptors is a viable treatment option for reduction of sympathetic nerve activity, disordered breathing patterns and arrhythmia incidence in heart failure.

Carotid chemoreceptor ablation improves survival in heart failure: Rescuing autonomic control of cardiorespiratory function

OBJECTIVES This study sought to investigate whether selective ablation of the carotid body (CB) chemoreceptors improves cardiorespiratory control and survival during heart failure. BACKGROUND Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a recognized health problem worldwide, and novel treatments are needed to better improve life quality and decrease mortality. Enhanced carotid chemoreflex drive from the CB is thought to contribute significantly to autonomic dysfunction, abnormal breathing patterns, and increased mortality in heart failure. METHODS Chronic heart failure was induced by coronary ligation in rats. Selective CB denervation was performed to remove carotid chemoreflex drive in the CHF state (16 weeks post-myocardial infarction). Indexes of autonomic and respiratory function were assessed in CB intact and CB denervated animals. CB denervation at 2 weeks post-myocardial infarction was performed to evaluate whether early targeted CB ablation decreases the progression of left ventricular dysfunction, cardiac remodeling, and arrhythmic episodes and improves survival. RESULTS The CHF rats developed increased CB chemoreflex drive and chronic central pre-sympathetic neuronal activation, increased indexes of elevated sympathetic outflow, increased breathing variability and apnea incidence, and desensitization of the baroreflex. Selective CB ablation reduced the central pre-sympathetic neuronal activation by 40%, normalized indexes of sympathetic outflow and baroreflex sensitivity, and reduced the incidence of apneas in CHF animals from 16.8 ± 1.8 events/h to 8.0 ± 1.4 events/h. Remarkably, when CB ablation was performed early, cardiac remodeling, deterioration of left ventricle ejection fraction, and cardiac arrhythmias were reduced. Most importantly, the rats that underwent early CB ablation exhibited an 85% survival rate compared with 45% survival in CHF rats without the intervention. CONCLUSIONS Carotid chemoreceptors play a seminal role in the pathogenesis of heart failure, and their targeted ablation might be of therapeutic value to reduce cardiorespiratory dysfunction and improve survival during CHF.

Contribution of endothelin-1 to the enhanced carotid body chemosensory responses induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) enhances carotid body (CB) chemosensory responses to acute hypoxia. We tested the hypothesis that endothelin-1 (ET-1), an excitatory modulator of CB chemoreception may contribute to the enhanced CB chemosensory responses in cats exposed to cyclic hypoxic episodes repeated during 8 h for 4 days. Accordingly, we measured the ET-1 immunoreactivity (ET-ir) in the CB and plasma. Using a perfused CB preparation, we studied the effects of exogenous ET-1 and bosentan, a non-selective endothelin receptor type A and B antagonist, on the frequency of chemosensory discharges (f(x)) during normoxia, mild and severe hypoxia. We found that CIH increased ET-ir in the CB by approximately 10-fold leaving ET-1 plasma levels unchanged. Application of ET-1 to control and CIH-treated CBs produced long-lasting dose-dependent increases in f(x), although the dose-response curve showed a rightward-shift in the CIH-treated CBs. CIH increased baseline f(x) and hypoxic chemosensory responses, which were reduced by 50 microM bosentan in CBs from CIH-treated cats. Present results suggest that a local increase of ET-1 in the CB may contribute to the enhanced chemosensory responses induced by CIH predominantly through a vasomotor mechanism.

Carotid body inflammation and cardiorespiratory alterations in intermittent hypoxia

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), a main feature of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), increases hypoxic ventilatory responses and elicits hypertension, partially attributed to an enhance carotid body (CB) responsiveness to hypoxia. As inflammation has been involved in CIH-induced hypertension and chemosensory potentiation, we tested whether ibuprofen may block CB chemosensory and cardiorespiratory alterations induced by CIH in a rat model of OSA. We studied the effects of ibuprofen (40 mg·kg−1·day−1) on immunohistochemical interleukin (IL)-1&bgr; and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-&agr; levels in the CB, the number of c-fos-positive neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), CB chemosensory and ventilatory responses to hypoxia, and arterial blood pressure in male rats either exposed for 21 days to 5% O2 (12 episodes·h−1, 8 h·day−1) or kept under sham condition. CIH increased CB TNF-&agr; and IL-1&bgr; and c-fos-positive neurons in the NTS, enhanced carotid chemosensory and ventilatory hypoxic responses, and produced hypertension. Ibuprofen prevented CB cytokine overexpression and CIH-induced increases in c-fos-positive neurons in the NTS, the enhanced hypoxic ventilatory responses and hypertension, but failed to impede the CB chemosensory potentiation. Results suggest that pro-inflammatory cytokines may contribute to the CIH-induced cardiorespiratory alterations, acting at several levels of the hypoxic chemoreflex and cardiovascular control pathways.

Carotid body potentiation induced by intermittent hypoxia: implications for cardiorespiratory changes induced by sleep apnoea.

1 The most usual form of chronic hypoxia in humans is the intermittent hypoxia resulting from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The OSA syndrome is a highly prevalent sleep breathing disorder that is considered an independent risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation and sympathetic activation have been proposed as potential mechanisms involved in the onset of the hypertension. However, evidence for a unique pathogenic mechanism has been difficult to establish in OSA patients because of concomitant comorbidities. Thus, animal models have been developed to study the pathological consequences of exposure to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). 2 Because OSA patients and animals exposed to CIH show augmented ventilatory, sympathetic and cardiovascular responses to acute hypoxia, it has been proposed that enhanced carotid body responsiveness to hypoxia is involved in the autonomic changes induced by OSA and in the development of the hypertension. Recently, this proposal has received further support from recordings of carotid body chemosensory neural discharges in situ and in vitro showing that exposure of animals to CIH increases basal carotid body chemosensory discharges and enhances the chemosensory response to hypoxia. 3 In the present brief review, we discuss the evidence supporting an important role for the carotid body in the progression of cardiorespiratory changes induced by OSA and the contribution of oxidative stress, endothelin‐1 and pro‐inflammatory molecules in the potentiation of the carotid body chemosensory function induced by CIH.

An electrochemical deposition route for obtaining α-Fe2O3 thin films

Electrochemical deposition of hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) thin films was investigated on SnO 2 :F covered glass substrates. A new electrochemical method to obtain hematite thin films through a potential cycling procedure in an aqueous solution of Fe(III) + KF + H 2 O 2 at room temperature is presented. The electrodeposited iron oxide thin films submitted to an annealing treatment showed a good quality and crystallinity. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of the rhombohedrally centered hexagonal structure: α-Fe 2 O 3 , hematite, as the sole crystalline phase. A bandgap energy of ca. 2.0 eV was measured for these films.

Differential expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, endothelin-1 and nitric oxide synthases in the rat carotid body exposed to intermittent hypoxia

The enhanced carotid body (CB) chemosensory response to hypoxia induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) has been attributed to oxidative stress, which is expected to increase the expression of chemosensory modulators including chemoexcitatory pro-inflammatory cytokines in the CB. Accordingly, we studied the time-course of the changes in the immunohistological expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, ET-1, iNOS, eNOS and 3-nitrotyrosine in the CB, along with the progression of enhanced CB chemosensory responses to acute hypoxia in male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to CIH (5%O₂, 12 times/h per 8h) for 7, 14 and 21 days. Exposure to CIH for 7 days resulted in a sustained potentiation of CB chemosensory responses to acute hypoxia, which persisted until 21 days of CIH. The chemosensory potentiation was paralleled by an increased 3-nitrotyrosine expression in the CB. On the contrary, CIH produced a transient 2-fold increase of ET-1 immunoreactivity at 7 days, a decrease in eNOS immunoreactivity, and a delayed but progressive increase of TNF-α, IL-1β and iNOS immunoreactivity, which was not associated with changes in systemic plasma levels or immune cell invasion within the CB. Thus, present results suggest that the local expression of chemosensory modulators and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the CB may have different temporal contribution to the CB chemosensory potentiation induced by CIH.

An Electrochemical Deposition Route for Obtaining α-Fe2O3 Thin Films II. EQCM Study and Semiconductor Properties

The electrochemical formation of hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) precursor thin films (oxyhydroxide iron compounds), onto gold substrates in an aqueous solution of Fe(III) + KF + H 2 O 2 was investigated in situ using an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) and voltammetric techniques. Nanostructured α-Fe 2 O 3 obtained after annealing of oxyhydroxide iron compounds thin films have been prepared onto SnO 2 /F covered glass substrates through a potential cycling procedure in this electrolytic bath. Photoelectrochemical measurements, carried out in 0.1 M NaOH + 0.05 M KI electrolyte at pH 13, show an n-type behavior, a flatband potential of -1.08 V vs saturated mercury/mercury sulfate reference electrode, and an apparent donor density of 1.26 X 10 19 cm -3 at 1 kHz.

Carotid Body Ablation Abrogates Hypertension and Autonomic Alterations Induced by Intermittent Hypoxia in Rats

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), the main feature of obstructive sleep apnea, enhances carotid body (CB) chemosensory responses to hypoxia and produces autonomic dysfunction, cardiac arrhythmias, and hypertension. We tested whether autonomic alterations, arrhythmogenesis, and the progression of hypertension induced by CIH depend on the enhanced CB chemosensory drive, by ablation of the CB chemoreceptors. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were exposed to control (Sham) conditions for 7 days and then to CIH (5% O2, 12/h 8 h/d) for a total of 28 days. At 21 days of CIH exposure, rats underwent bilateral CB ablation and then exposed to CIH for 7 additional days. Arterial blood pressure and ventilatory chemoreflex response to hypoxia were measured in conscious rats. In addition, cardiac autonomic imbalance, cardiac baroreflex gain, and arrhythmia score were assessed during the length of the experiments. In separate experimental series, we measured extracellular matrix remodeling content in cardiac atrial tissue and systemic oxidative stress. CIH induced hypertension, enhanced ventilatory response to hypoxia, induced autonomic imbalance toward sympathetic preponderance, reduced baroreflex gain, and increased arrhythmias and atrial fibrosis. CB ablation normalized blood pressure, reduced ventilatory response to hypoxia, and restored cardiac autonomic and baroreflex function. In addition, CB ablation reduced the number of arrhythmias, but not extracellular matrix remodeling or systemic oxidative stress, suggesting that reductions in arrhythmia incidence during CIH were related to normalization of cardiac autonomic balance. Present results show that autonomic alterations induced by CIH are critically dependent on the CB and support a main role for the CB in the CIH-induced hypertension.