The present study was undertaken to identify if activation of the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) elicits augmented breaths (ABs). DMH disinhibition in urethane anesthetized rats produced both an increase in baseline respiratory rate (RR) and an increase in the number of ABs. The increase in RR was associated with a decrease in both the time of inspiration (T(i)) and expiration (T(e)) and the peak change in RR was observed 5 min post DMH activation. In contrast, the increase in ABs was greatest during the first 1.25 min, and both T(i)s of the ABs did not change significantly from pre-injection values. The T(e) of the ABs did decrease but remained significantly greater than the T(e) of the normal breath during DMH disinhibition. Our results support the hypothesis that the central neural pathway involved in the maintenance of normal respiratory pattern may be distinct from pathways involved in the generation of ABs.
Intermittent hypoxia can evoke persistent increases in ventilation (ν̇ E) in neonates (i.e. long-term facilitation, LTF) (Julien et al. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 294: R1356-R1366, 2008. Since prenatal nicotine (PN) exposure alters neonatal respiratory control (Fregosi & Pilarski. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 164: 80-86, 2008), we hypothesized that PN would influence LTF of ventilation (ν̇ E) in neonatal rats. An osmotic minipump delivered nicotine (6 mg/kg/day) or saline to pregnant dams. ν̇ E was assessed in unanesthetized pups via whole body plethysmography at post-natal (P) days 9-11 or 15-17 during baseline (BL, 21% O 2 ), hypoxia (10 × 5 min, 5% O 2 ) and 30 min posthypoxia. PN pups had reduced BL ν̇ E (p<0.05) but greater increases in ν̇ E during hypoxia (p<0.05). Post-hypoxia ν̇ E (i.e. LTF) showed an age × treatment interaction (p<0.01) with similar values at P9-11 but enhanced LTF in saline (30±8 %BL) vs. PN pups (6±5 %BL; p=0.01) at P15-17. We conclude that the post-natal developmental time course of hypoxia-induced LTF is influenced by PN.
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