The Role of the Aortic Body Chemoreceptors in the Cardiac and Respiratory Responses to Acute Hypoxia in the Anesthetized Dog

Abstract

The participation of the aortic chemoreceptors in the reflex cardiac responses to acute hypoxia is suggested only by the indirect evidence of pharmacological stimulation of these receptors. In order to assess their role more directly, the response to a 15 min period of hypoxia was determined after surgical denervation of the aortic chemoreceptors (A.D.), and compared with the response of sham-operated (S.O.) dogs, anesthetized with morphine–pentobarbital. In the control period, while breathing room air, the cardiovascular and respiratory parameters measured in the A.D. animals were not different from those of the S.O. dogs. Hypoxia (partial pressure of oxygen approximately 30 mm Hg) in the S.O. dogs was associated with a statistically significant rise in the heart rate (+71 ± 7 min−1, mean ± S.E.M.) and of the cardiac output (+25 ± 10 ml kg−1 min−1). In the A.D. animals, the significantly smaller increment in heart rate (+29 ± 6 min−1) was associated with a fall of the cardiac output (−16 ± 12 ml kg−1 min−1). The hypoxia-induced changes in heart rate and cardiac output in the S.O. animals were different (p < 0.05) from those in the A.D. group. The minute volume of ventilation was significantly augmented in both groups, and to a comparable extent. These findings indicate that the aortic chemoreceptors play a significant role in the cardiac response to hypoxia, but they do not affect, to a significant extent, the respiratory response.