Increasing or decreasing the excitability of V2a neurons activates accessory respiratory muscles

Abstract

Accessory respiratory muscles (ARMs) can be recruited to maintain respiration when the diaphragm is impaired or weakened, such as patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or spinal cord injury. We chronically record mouse diaphragm electromyography (EMG), ARM EMG, and whole body plethysmography to assess the effect of activating and silencing V2a neurons with DREADDs on respiratory muscle activity and ventilation. Increasing the excitability of glutamatergic V2a neurons in the brainstem and/or the spinal cord recruits ARMs and enhances ventilation. Interestingly, silencing V2a neurons also activates ARMs. We hypothesize that V2a neurons participate in both excitatory and inhibitory pathways controlling activation of ARMs for breathing.Support or Funding InformationUniversity of Cincinnati T32 Training Grant 2016–2017This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.