CO reveals dual mechanisms of O2 chemoreception in the cat carotid body

Carotid body contribution to the physio-pathological consequences of intermittent hypoxia: role of nitro-oxidative stress and inflammation

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), is considered to be an independent risk for hypertension. The pathological cardiorespiratory consequences of OSA have been attributed to systemic oxidative stress, inflammation and sympathetic overflow induced by CIH, but an emerging body of evidence indicates that a nitro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory milieu within the carotid body (CB) is involved in the potentiation of CB chemosensory responses to hypoxia, which contribute to enhance the sympathetic activity. Accordingly, autonomic and cardiovascular alterations induced by CIH are critically dependent on an abnormally heightened CB chemosensory input to the nucleus of tractus solitarius (NTS), where second-order neurons project onto the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), activating pre-sympathetic neurons that control pre-ganglionic sympathetic neurons. CIH produces oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in the NTS and RVLM, which may contribute to the long-term irreversibility of the CIH-induced alterations. This brief review is mainly focused on the contribution of nitro-oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory molecules on the hyperactivation of the hypoxic chemoreflex pathway including the CB and the brainstem centres, and whether the persistence of autonomic and cardiorespiratory alterations may depend on the glial-related neuroinflammation induced by the enhanced CB chemosensory afferent input.

Carotid body chemoreceptors: physiology, pathology, and implications for health and disease

The carotid body (CB) is the main peripheral chemoreceptor for arterial respiratory gases O2 and CO2 and pH, eliciting reflex ventilatory, cardiovascular, and humoral responses to maintain homeostasis. This review examines the fundamental biology underlying CB chemoreceptor function, its contribution to integrated physiological responses, and its role in maintaining health and potentiating disease. Emphasis is placed on 1) transduction mechanisms in chemoreceptor (type I) cells, highlighting the role played by the hypoxic inhibition of O2-dependent K+ channels and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, and their modification by intracellular molecules and other ion channels; 2) synaptic mechanisms linking type I cells and petrosal nerve terminals, focusing on the role played by the main proposed transmitters and modulatory gases, and the participation of glial cells in regulation of the chemosensory process; 3) integrated reflex responses to CB activation, emphasizing that the responses differ dramatically depending on the nature of the physiological, pathological, or environmental challenges, and the interactions of the chemoreceptor reflex with other reflexes in optimizing oxygen delivery to the tissues; and 4) the contribution of enhanced CB chemosensory discharge to autonomic and cardiorespiratory pathophysiology in obstructive sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, resistant hypertension, and metabolic diseases and how modulation of enhanced CB reactivity in disease conditions may attenuate pathophysiology.

The Role of Maternal Smoking in Sudden Fetal and Infant Death Pathogenesis

Maternal smoking is a risk factor for both sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and sudden intrauterine unexplained death syndrome (SIUDS). Both SIDS and SIUDS are more frequently observed in infants of smoking mothers. The global prevalence of smoking during pregnancy is 1.7% and up to 8.1% of women in Europe smoke during pregnancy and worldwide 250 million women smoke during pregnancy. Infants born to mothers who smoke have an abnormal response to hypoxia and hypercarbia and they also have reduced arousal responses. The harmful effects of tobacco smoke are mainly mediated by release of carbon monoxide and nicotine. Nicotine can enter the fetal circulation and affect multiple developing organs including the lungs, adrenal glands and the brain. Abnormalities in brainstem nuclei crucial to respiratory control, the cerebral cortex and the autonomic nervous system have been demonstrated. In addition, hypodevelopment of the intermediolateral nucleus in the spinal cord has been reported. It initiates episodic respiratory movements that facilitate lung development. Furthermore, abnormal maturation and transmitter levels in the carotid bodies have been described which would make infants more vulnerable to hypoxic challenges. Unfortunately, smoking cessation programs do not appear to have significantly reduced the number of pregnant women who smoke.

Dissociating the effects of oxygen pressure and content on the control of breathing and acute hypoxic response

Arterial oxygen tension and oxyhemoglobin saturation (S a O 2 ) decrease in parallel during hypoxia. Distinguishing between changes in oxygen tension and oxygen content as the relevant physiological stimulus for cardiorespiratory alterations remains challenging. To overcome this, we recruited nine individuals with hemoglobinopathy manifesting as high-affinity hemoglobin [HAH; partial pressure at 50% S a O 2 (P50) = 16 ± 0.4 mmHg] causing greater S a O 2 at a given oxygen partial pressure compared with control subjects (n = 12, P50 = 26 ± 0.4 mmHg). We assessed ventilatory and cardiovascular responses to acute isocapnic hypoxia, iso-oxic hypercapnia, and 20 min of isocapnic hypoxia (arterial Po2 = 50 mmHg). Blood gas alterations were achieved with dynamic end-tidal forcing. When expressed as a function of the logarithm of oxygen partial pressure, ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia was not different between groups. However, there was a significant difference when expressed as a function of S a O 2 . Conversely, the rise in heart rate was blunted in HAH subjects when expressed as a function of partial pressure but similar when expressed as a function of S a O 2 . Ventilatory sensitivity to hypercapnia was not different between groups. During sustained isocapnic hypoxia, the rise in minute ventilation was similar between groups; however, heart rate was significantly greater in the controls during 3 to 9 min of exposure. Our results support the notion that oxygen tension, not content, alters cellular Po2 in the chemosensors and drives the hypoxic ventilatory response. Our study suggests that in addition to oxygen partial pressure, oxygen content may also influence the heart rate response to hypoxia.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We dissociated the effects of oxygen content and pressure of cardiorespiratory regulation studying individuals with high-affinity hemoglobin (HAH). During hypoxia, the ventilatory response, expressed as a function of oxygen tension, was similar between HAH variants and controls; however, the rise in heart rate was blunted in the variants. Our work supports the notion that the hypoxic ventilatory response is regulated by oxygen tension, whereas cardiovascular regulation may be influenced by arterial oxygen content and tension.

Central and peripheral chemoreceptors in sudden infant death syndrome

The pathogenesis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been ascribed to an underlying biological vulnerability to stressors during a critical period of development. This paper reviews the main data in the literature supporting the role of central (e.g. retrotrapezoid nucleus, serotoninergic raphe nuclei, locus coeruleus, orexinergic neurons, ventral medullary surface, solitary tract nucleus) and peripheral (e.g. carotid body) chemoreceptors in the pathogenesis of SIDS. Clinical and experimental studies indicate that central and peripheral chemoreceptors undergo critical development during the initial postnatal period, consistent with the age range of SIDS (<1 year). Most of the risk factors for SIDS (gender, genetic factors, prematurity, hypoxic/hyperoxic stimuli, inflammation, perinatal exposure to cigarette smoke and/or substance abuse) may structurally and functionally affect the developmental plasticity of central and peripheral chemoreceptors, strongly suggesting the involvement of these structures in the pathogenesis of SIDS. Morphometric and neurochemical changes have been found in the carotid body and brainstem respiratory chemoreceptors of SIDS victims, together with functional signs of chemoreception impairment in some clinical studies. However, the methodological problems of SIDS research will have to be addressed in the future, requiring large and highly standardized case series. Up-to-date autopsy protocols should be produced, involving substantial, and exhaustive sampling of all potentially involved structures (including peripheral arterial chemoreceptors). Morphometric approaches should include unbiased stereological methods with three-dimensional probes. Prospective clinical studies addressing functional tests and risk factors (including genetic traits) would probably be the gold standard, allowing markers of intrinsic or acquired vulnerability to be properly identified.

Oxygen sensitivity of mitochondrial function in rat arterial chemoreceptor cells

The mechanism of oxygen sensing in arterial chemoreceptors is unknown but has often been linked to mitochondrial function. A common criticism of this hypothesis is that mitochondrial function is insensitive to physiological levels of hypoxia. Here we investigate the effects of hypoxia (down to 0.5% O2) on mitochondrial function in neonatal rat type-1 cells. The oxygen sensitivity of mitochondrial [NADH] was assessed by monitoring autofluorescence and increased in hypoxia with a P50 of 15 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 133.3 Pa) in normal Tyrode or 46 mm Hg in Ca(2+)-free Tyrode. Hypoxia also depolarised mitochondrial membrane potential (m, measured using rhodamine 123) with a P50 of 3.1, 3.3 and 2.8 mm Hg in normal Tyrode, Ca(2+)-free Tyrode and Tyrode containing the Ca(2+) channel antagonist Ni(2+), respectively. In the presence of oligomycin and low carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy) phenylhydrazone (FCCP; 75 nm) m is maintained by electron transport working against an artificial proton leak. Under these conditions hypoxia depolarised m/inhibited electron transport with a P50 of 5.4 mm Hg. The effects of hypoxia upon cytochrome oxidase activity were investigated using rotenone, myxothiazol, antimycin A, oligomycin, ascorbate and the electron donor tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine. Under these conditions m is maintained by complex IV activity alone. Hypoxia inhibited cytochrome oxidase activity (depolarised m) with a P50 of 2.6 mm Hg. In contrast hypoxia had little or no effect upon NADH (P50 = 0.3 mm Hg), electron transport or cytochrome oxidase activity in sympathetic neurons. In summary, type-1 cell mitochondria display extraordinary oxygen sensitivity commensurate with a role in oxygen sensing. The reasons for this highly unusual behaviour are as yet unexplained.

The carotid body in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

The aim of the present study is to provide a review of cytochemical, clinical and experimental data indicating disruption of perinatal carotid body maturation as one of the possible mechanisms underlying SIDS pathogenesis. SIDS victims have been reported to show alterations in respiratory regulation which may partly be ascribed to peripheral arterial chemoreceptors. Carotid body findings in SIDS victims, although not entirely confirmed by other authors, have included reductions in glomic tissue volume and cytoplamic granules of type I cells, changes in cytological composition (higher percentages of progenitor and type II cells) and increases in dopamine and noradrenaline contents. Prematurity and environmental factors, such as exposure to tobacco smoke, substances of abuse, hyperoxia and continuous or intermittent hypoxia, increase the risk of SIDS and are known to affect carotid body functional and structural maturation adversely, supporting a role for peripheral arterial chemoreceptors in SIDS.

A revisit to O2 sensing and transduction in the carotid body chemoreceptors in the context of reactive oxygen species biology

Oxygen-sensing and transduction in purposeful responses in cells and organisms is of great physiological and medical interest. All animals, including humans, encounter in their lifespan many situations in which oxygen availability might be insufficient, whether acutely or chronically, physiologically or pathologically. Therefore to trace at the molecular level the sequence of events or steps connecting the oxygen deficit with the cell responses is of interest in itself as an achievement of science. In addition, it is also of great medical interest as such knowledge might facilitate the therapeutical approach to patients and to design strategies to minimize hypoxic damage. In our article we define the concepts of sensors and transducers, the steps of the hypoxic transduction cascade in the carotid body chemoreceptor cells and also discuss current models of oxygen- sensing (bioenergetic, biosynthetic and conformational) with their supportive and unsupportive data from updated literature. We envision oxygen-sensing in carotid body chemoreceptor cells as a process initiated at the level of plasma membrane and performed by a hemoprotein, which might be NOX4 or a hemoprotein not yet chemically identified. Upon oxygen-desaturation, the sensor would experience conformational changes allosterically transmitted to oxygen regulated K+ channels, the initial effectors in the transduction cascade. A decrease in their opening probability would produce cell depolarization, activation of voltage dependent calcium channels and release of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters would activate the nerve endings of the carotid body sensory nerve to convey the information of the hypoxic situation to the central nervous system that would command ventilation to fight hypoxia.

Adequate stimuli of the carotid body: more than an oxygen sensor?

The past 10-20 years has seen a significant increase in the number of studies aimed at elucidating the mechanism of action of the carotid body and this has led to an increased knowledge of how this sensory organ transduces hypoxaemia into afferent chemodischarge. Whilst hypoxia is often considered as the most significant, peripheral chemostimulus, the carotid body is able to transduce many other physico-chemical stimuli, including not only arterial P(CO2) and pH but also blood potassium concentration, temperature and osmolarity as well as, potentially, blood glucose levels and all with appropriate physiological sensitivity. Although it is difficult to be definitive, these other stimuli appear to be sensed independently of the hypoxia transduction process, albeit converging at the point of type I cell membrane depolarisation or Ca(2+) -dependent neurosecretion. We suggest, therefore, that the carotid body might better be viewed as a polymodal receptor with its multiple adequate stimuli interacting to provide additive or greater than additive effects upon chemoafferent discharge for the purpose of cardiorespiratory homeostasis during periods of stress.

Oxygen sensing in the body

This review is divided into three parts: (a) The primary site of oxygen sensing is the carotid body which instantaneously respond to hypoxia without involving new protein synthesis, and is historically known as the first oxygen sensor and is therefore placed in the first section (Lahiri, Roy, Baby and Hoshi). The carotid body senses oxygen in acute hypoxia, and produces appropriate responses such as increases in breathing, replenishing oxygen from air. How this oxygen is sensed at a relatively high level (arterial PO2 approximately 50 Torr) which would not be perceptible by other cells in the body, is a mystery. This response is seen in afferent nerves which are connected synaptically to type I or glomus cells of the carotid body. The major effect of oxygen sensing is the increase in cytosolic calcium, ultimately by influx from extracellular calcium whose concentration is 2 x 10(4) times greater. There are several contesting hypotheses for this response: one, the mitochondrial hypothesis which states that the electron transport from the substrate to oxygen through the respiratory chain is retarded as the oxygen pressure falls, and the mitochondrial membrane is depolarized leading to the calcium release from the complex of mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum. This is followed by influx of calcium. Also, the inhibitors of the respiratory chain result in mitochondrial depolarization and calcium release. The other hypothesis (membrane model) states that K(+) channels are suppressed by hypoxia which depolarizes the membrane leading to calcium influx and cytosolic calcium increase. Evidence supports both the hypotheses. Hypoxia also inhibits prolyl hydroxylases which are present in all the cells. This inhibition results in membrane K(+) current suppression which is followed by cell depolarization. The theme of this section covers first what and where the oxygen sensors are; second, what are the effectors; third, what couples oxygen sensors and the effectors. (b) All oxygen consuming cells have a built-in mechanism, the transcription factor HIF-1, the discovery of which has led to the delineation of oxygen-regulated gene expression. This response to chronic hypoxia needs new protein synthesis, and the proteins of these genes mediate the adaptive physiological responses. HIF-1alpha, which is a part of HIF-1, has come to be known as master regulator for oxygen homeostasis, and is precisely regulated by the cellular oxygen concentration. Thus, the HIF-1 encompasses the chronic responses (gene expression in all cells of the body). The molecular biology of oxygen sensing is reviewed in this section (Semenza). (c) Once oxygen is sensed and Ca(2+) is released, the neurotransmittesr will be elaborated from the glomus cells of the carotid body. Currently it is believed that hypoxia facilitates release of one or more excitatory transmitters from glomus cells, which by depolarizing the nearby afferent terminals, leads to increases in the sensory discharge. The transmitters expressed in the carotid body can be classified into two major categories: conventional and unconventional. The conventional neurotransmitters include those stored in synaptic vesicles and mediate their action via activation of specific membrane bound receptors often coupled to G-proteins. Unconventional neurotransmitters are those that are not stored in synaptic vesicles, but spontaneously generated by enzymatic reactions and exert their biological responses either by interacting with cytosolic enzymes or by direct modifications of proteins. The gas molecules such as NO and CO belong to this latter category of neurotransmitters and have unique functions. Co-localization and co-release of neurotransmitters have also been described. Often interactions between excitatory and inhibitory messenger molecules also occur. Carotid body contains all kinds of transmitters, and an interplay between them must occur. But very little has come to be known as yet. Glimpses of these interactions are evident in the discussion in the last section (Prabhakar).

Mitochondrial function and carotid body transduction

Carotid body chemoreceptors respond to a decrease in arterial oxygen tension by increasing spiking activity on the sinus nerve. Our understanding of the oxygen-transducing ability of the organ arose from studies in the 1930s intended to understand how metabolic poisons stimulated breathing. Since that time, an intimate link between energy state and hypoxia sensing has been assumed and forms the basis of the metabolic hypothesis of oxygen sensing. This hypothesis is supported by studies demonstrating a loss of mitochondrial potential in carotid body cells at oxygen tensions that cause no change in cells from other tissues. Although the nature of the coupling between mitochondrial function and nerve excitation remains unresolved, experimental evidence supports roles for (1) release of mitochondrial calcium stores, (2) modulation of membrane channels that are linked to mitochondrial complexes I and IV, and (3) generation of signaling intermediates, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) from complex I and III of the electron transport chain. If the mitochondrion is the oxygen-sensing site for peripheral chemoreceptors, then there exists the potential ability to manipulate, perhaps pharmacologically, the sensing function by alterations in expression of uncoupler proteins or chemicals that can alter the affinity of cytochrome oxidase for oxygen. Such manipulation may be useful for the treatment of hypoventilation syndromes or high altitude accommodation.

Transient carbon monoxide inhibits the ventilatory responses to hypoxia through peripheral mechanisms in the rat

Hypoxia inhibits K+ channels of chemoreceptors of the carotid body (CB), which is reversed by transient carbon monoxide (CO), suggesting an inhibitory effect of CO on hypoxic stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors. Therefore, we hypothesized that the ventilatory responses to hypoxic stimulation of the CB might be depressed in intact rats by transient inhalation of CO. Anesthetized, spontaneously breathing rats were exposed to room air, and 1 min of 11% O2 (HYP) and CO (0.25-2%) alone and in combination (HYP+CO). We found that transient CO did not affect baseline cardiorespiratory variables, but significantly attenuated hypoxic ventilatory augmentation, predominantly via reduction of tidal volume. To distinguish whether this CO modulation occurs at the CB or within the central nervous system, the cardiorespiratory responses to electrical stimulation of the fastigial nucleus (FN), a cerebellar nucleus known excitatory to respiration, were compared before and during transient CO. Our results showed that the FN-mediated cardiorespiratory responses were not significantly changed by transient CO exposure. To evaluate the effect of CO accumulation, we also compared baseline cardiorespiratory responses to 5 min of 1% and 2% CO, respectively. Interestingly, only the latter produced a biphasic ventilatory response (initial increase followed by decrease) associated with hypotension. We conclude that eupneic breathing in anesthetized rat was not affected by transient CO, but was altered by prolonged exposure to higher levels of CO. Moreover, transient CO depresses hypoxic ventilatory responses mainly through peripherally inhibiting hypoxic stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors.

Immediate and long-term responses of the carotid body to high altitude

High altitude and the decreased environmental oxygen pressure have both immediate and chronic effects on the carotid body. An immediate effect is to limit the oxygen available for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and this leads to increased activity on the afferent nerves leading to the brain. In the isolated carotid body preparation, the afferent nerve activity depends on the ratio of carbon monoxide (CO), an inhibitor of respiratory chain function, to oxygen. The CO-induced increase in afferent neural activity is reversed by light, and the wavelength dependence of this reversal shows that the site of CO (and therefore oxygen) interaction is cytochrome a3 of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Thus, primary sensing of ambient oxygen pressure is through the oxygen dependence of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. The conductance of ion channels in the cellular membranes may also be sensitive to oxygen pressure and, through this, modulate the sensitivity to oxygen pressure. Longer-term exposure to high altitude results in progressive changes in the carotid body that involve several mechanisms, including cellular energy metabolism and hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha). These changes begin within minutes of exposure, but progress such that chronic exposure results in morphological and biochemical alterations in the carotid body, including enlarged cells, increased catecholamine levels, altered cellular appearance, and others. In the chronically adapted carotid body, responses to acute changes in oxygen pressure are enhanced. The adaptive changes due to chronic hypoxia are largely reversed upon return to lower altitudes.

Effect of acute hypoxia on glomus cell Em and psi m as measured by fluorescence imaging

We have reinvestigated the hypothesis of the relative importance of glomus cell plasma and mitochondrial membrane potentials (E(m) and psi(m), respectively) in acute hypoxia by a noninvasive fluorescence microimaging technique using the voltage-sensitive dyes bis-oxonol and JC-1, respectively. Short-term (24 h)-cultured rat glomus cells and cultured PC-12 cells were used for the study. Glomus cell E(m) depolarization was indirectly confirmed by an increase in bis-oxonol (an anionic probe) fluorescence due to a graded increase in extracellular K(+). Fluorescence responses of glomus cell E(m) to acute hypoxia (approximately 10 Torr Po(2)) indicated depolarization in 20%, no response in 45%, and hyperpolarization in 35% of the cells tested, whereas all PC-12 cells consistently depolarized in response to hypoxia. Furthermore, glomus cell E(m) hyperpolarization was confirmed with high CO (approximately 500 Torr). Glomus cell psi(m) depolarization was indirectly assessed by a decrease in JC-1 (a cationic probe) fluorescence. Accordingly, 1 microM carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation), high CO (a metabolic inhibitor), and acute hypoxia (approximately 10 Torr Po(2)) consistently depolarized the mitochondria in all glomus cells tested. Likewise, all PC-12 cell mitochondria depolarized in response to FCCP and hypoxia. Thus, although bis-oxonol could not show glomus cell depolarization consistently, JC-1 monitored glomus cell mitochondrial depolarization as an inevitable phenomenon in hypoxia. Overall, these responses supported our "metabomembrane hypothesis" of chemoreception.

A possible dual site of action for carbon monoxide-mediated chemoexcitation in the rat carotid body

High tensions of carbon monoxide (CO), relative to oxygen, were used as a tool to investigate the mechanism of chemotransduction. In an in vitro whole organ, rat carotid body preparation, CO increased sinus nerve chemoafferent discharge in the dark, an effect that was significantly reduced (by ca 70 %) by bright white light and by the removal of extracellular Ca(2+) from the superfusate or by the addition of either Ni(2+) (2 mM) or methoxyverapamil (100 microM). Addition of the P(2) purinoceptor antagonist pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2',4'-disulphonic acid (50 microM) also significantly reduced the neural response to CO. In perforated patch, whole-cell recordings of isolated rat type I cells, CO induced a depolarisation of ca 11 mV and a decrease in the amplitude of an outward current around and above the resting membrane potential. Membrane conductance between -50 and -60 mV was significantly reduced by ca 40 % by CO. These effects were not photolabile and were present also when a 'blocking solution' containing TEA, 4-AP, Ni(2+) and zero extracellular Ca(2+) was used. In conventional whole-cell recordings, CO only decreased current amplitudes above +10 mV and was without effect around the resting membrane potential. These data demonstrate a direct effect of CO upon type I cell K(+) conductances and strongly suggest an effect upon a background, leak conductance that requires an intracellular mediator. The photolabile effect of CO only upon afferent neural discharge adds further evidence to a dual site of action of CO with a separate action at the afferent nerve terminal that, additionally, requires the permissive action of the neurotransmitter ATP.

Significance of ROS in oxygen sensing in cell systems with sensitivity to physiological hypoxia

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are oxygen-containing molecular entities which are more potent and effective oxidizing agents than is molecular oxygen itself. With the exception of phagocytic cells, where ROS play an important physiological role in defense reactions, ROS have classically been considered undesirable byproducts of cell metabolism, existing several cellular mechanisms aimed to dispose them. Recently, however, ROS have been considered important intracellular signaling molecules, which may act as mediators or second messengers in many cell functions. This is the proposed role for ROS in oxygen sensing in systems, such as carotid body chemoreceptor cells, pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, and erythropoietin-producing cells. These unique cells comprise essential parts of homeostatic loops directed to maintain oxygen levels in multicellular organisms in situations of hypoxia. The present article examines the possible significance of ROS in these three cell systems, and proposes a set of criteria that ROS should satisfy for their consideration as mediators in hypoxic transduction cascades. In none of the three cell types do ROS satisfy these criteria, and thus it appears that alternative mechanisms are responsible for the transduction cascades linking hypoxia to the release of neurotransmitters in chemoreceptor cells, contraction in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and erythropoietin secretion in erythropoietin producing cells.

Carotid body chemosensory excitation induced by nitric oxide: involvement of oxidative metabolism

Nitric oxide (NO) produces a dual effect on carotid body (CB) oxygen chemoreception. At low concentration, NO inhibits chemosensory response to hypoxia, while in normoxia, medium and high [NO] increases the frequency of carotid chemosensory discharges (f(x)). Since NO and peroxynitrite inhibit mitochondrial respiration, it is plausible that the NO-induced excitation may depend on the mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effects of oligomycin, FCCP and antimycin A that produce selective blockade of hypoxic and NaCN-induced chemosensory responses, leaving nicotinic response less affected. CBs excised from pentobarbitone-anaesthetised cats were perfused in vitro with Tyrode (P(O(2)) approximately 125 Torr, pH 7.40 at 38 degrees C). Hypoxia (P(O(2)) approximately equal 30 Torr), NaCN and nicotine (1-100 microg) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamide (SNAP, 300-600 microg) increased f(x). Oligomycin (12.5-25 microg), antimycin A (10 microg) and FCCP (5 microM) transiently increased f(x). Subsequently, chemosensory responses to hypoxia, NaCN and SNAP were reduced or abolished, while the response to nicotine was less affected. The electron donor system tetramethyl-p-phenylene diamide and ascorbate that bypasses the electron chain blockade produced by antimycin A, restores the excitatory responses to NaCN and SNAP. Present results suggest that the chemoexcitatory effect of NO depends on the integrity of mitochondrial metabolism.

CO-induced K(+) currents in rat glomus cells are insensitive to light unlike carotid body neural discharge and Vo(O(2))

The hypothesis that the light sensitive properties of CO-induced chemosensory nerve (CSN) discharge and oxygen consumption of the carotid body (CB) were shared by the pre-synaptic glomus cells was tested. The light effect on K(+) currents were measured before and during perfusion of the isolated rat glomus cells with high P(CO) of 550 Torr during nomoxia (P(O(2)approximately equal 100 Torr) at extra-cellular pH 7.0 and intracellular pH 6.8 with HEPES buffer. CO increased the K(+) currents with a left ward shift of the reversal potential, which showed no light effect. Thus the K(+) permeability of the glomus cell membrane were not shared by the light-sensitive CSN discharge of the CB and oxygen consumption in the presence of high P(CO.)

Extra- and intracellular free iron and the carotid body responses

The hypothesis that chelation of free iron, by decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS), might mimic hypoxia and stimulate the carotid body was tested. We used the iron chelators, desferrioxamine (DFO, 200-400 microM) initially, and later ciclopirox olamine (CPX, 2.5-5.0 microM), on rat carotid body in vitro and measured chemosensory activity and [Ca2+]i in isolated cultured glomus cell clusters during normoxia and hypoxia. Although acute treatment of DFO might not penetrate the cell, and extracellular DFO would not influence these activities whereas CPX significantly increased chemosensory activities as well as increased [Ca2+]i in normoxia. We concluded that chelation of extracellular free iron did not alter ROS formation and oxygen sensing. Chelation of intracellular free iron and, therefore, a decrease in intracellular ROS appears to influence oxygen sensing in the carotid body.

Expression of heme oxygenase in the oxygen-sensing regions of the rostral ventrolateral medulla

Recently, unique regions in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) have been found to be oxygen sensitive. However, the mechanism of sensing oxygen in these RVLM regions is unknown. Because heme oxygenase (HO) has been shown to be involved in the hypoxic responses of the carotid body and pulmonary artery, the aim of this study was to determine whether HO is present in the RVLM and whether expression of HO is altered by chronic hypoxia. Adult rats were exposed to hypoxia (10% O(2)) or normoxia (21% O(2)) for 10 days, and the mRNA for HO-1 and HO-2 was examined in the RVLM by using RT-PCR. Expression of HO-2 mRNA was seen in the RVLM of both control and hypoxic samples, whereas expression of HO-1 mRNA was only seen in the RVLM of hypoxic samples. HO-2 was immunocytochemically localized in brain sections (40 microm) to the C1 region and pre-Bötzinger complex of the RVLM. Together, these results indicate that HO-2 is present in the RVLM under control conditions and that HO-1 is induced in the RVLM during chronic hypoxia, consistent with a potential role for HO in the oxygen-sensing function of these cardiorespiratory RVLM regions.

Altered structure and function of the carotid body at high altitude and associated chemoreflexes

The ventilatory response to hypoxia is complex. First contact with hypoxia causes an increase in ventilation within seconds that reaches full intensity within minutes because of an increase in carotid sinus nerve (CSN) input to the brain stem. With continued exposure, ventilation increases further over days (ventilatory acclimatization). Initially, it was hypothesized that ventilatory acclimatization arose from a central nervous system (CNS) mechanism. Compensation for alkalosis in the brain and restoration of pH in the vicinity of central chemoreceptors was believed to cause the secondary increase in ventilation. However, when this hypothesis could not be substantiated, attention was turned to the peripheral chemoreceptors. With the lowering of arterial PO2 at high altitude, there is an immediate increase in firing of afferents from chemoreceptors in the carotid body. After peaking over the next few minutes, the firing rate of afferents begins to rise again within hours until a steady state is reached. This secondary increase occurs along with increase in neurotransmitter synthesis and release and altered gene expression followed by hypertrophy of carotid body glomus cells. Further exposure to hypoxia eventually leads to blunting of the CSN output and ventilatory response in some species. This mini review is about the altered structure and function of the carotid body at high altitude and the associated blunting of the chemoreceptor and ventilatory responses observed in some species.

Respiratory control in humans after 8 h of lowered arterial PO2, hemodilution, or carboxyhemoglobinemia

In humans exposed to 8 h of isocapnic hypoxia, there is a progressive increase in ventilation that is associated with an increase in the ventilatory sensitivity to acute hypoxia. To determine the relative roles of lowered arterial PO2 and oxygen content in generating these changes, the acute hypoxic ventilatory response was determined in 11 subjects after four 8-h exposures: 1) protocol IH (isocapnic hypoxia), in which end-tidal PO2 was held at 55 Torr and end-tidal PCO2 was maintained at the preexposure value; 2) protocol PB (phlebotomy), in which 500 ml of venous blood were withdrawn; 3) protocol CO, in which carboxyhemoglobin was maintained at 10% by controlled carbon monoxide inhalation; and 4) protocol C as a control. Both hypoxic sensitivity and ventilation in the absence of hypoxia increased significantly after protocol IH (P < 0.001 and P < 0.005, respectively, ANOVA) but not after the other three protocols. This indicates that it is the reduction in arterial PO2 that is primarily important in generating the increase in the acute hypoxic ventilatory response in prolonged hypoxia. The associated reduction in arterial oxygen content is unlikely to play an important role.

The metabolic hypothesis revisited

High levels of CO are used to mimic the stimulatory response of the CSN initiated by hypoxia. Using light of different wavelengths we show that the stimulatory effects of high CO can be pinpointed to the cytochrome c oxidase in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. This supports the metabolic theory of oxygen sensing in the mitochondria.

Dual effects of nitric oxide on cat carotid body chemoreception

We studied the effects of nitric oxide (NO) released by NO donors on cat carotid body (CB) chemosensory activity during normoxia and hypoxia. CBs excised from pentobarbital sodium-anaesthetized cats were perfused with Tyrode at 38 degrees C and pH 7.40. The frequency of chemosensory discharges (f(x)) was recorded from the carotid sinus nerve, and changes of NO concentration were measured by a chronoamperometric technique, with NO-selective carbon-fiber microelectrodes inserted in the CB. During steady chemosensory excitation induced by hypoxia, bolus injections of NO (DeltaNO = 0. 5-12 microM), released by S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and 6-(2-hydroxy-1-methyl-nitrosohydrazino)-N-methyl-1-hexanamine++ + (NOC-9), transiently reduced f(x) in a dose-dependent manner. However, during normoxia, the same concentration of NO (DeltaNO = 0. 5-13 microM) released by the NO donors increased f(x) in a dose-dependent manner. The present results show a dual effect of NO on CB chemoreception that is dependent on the PO(2) levels. During hypoxia, NO is predominantly an inhibitor of chemoreception, whereas, in normoxia, NO increased f(x). The mechanisms by which NO produces chemosensory excitation during normoxia remain to be determined.

Chemoreceptor discharges and cytochrome redox changes of the rat carotid body: role of heme ligands

In superfused in vitro rat carotid body, we recorded chemoreceptor discharges and the redox state of cytochromes simultaneously to identify the primary oxygen-sensing protein controlling transmitter release and electrical activity of the carotid sinus nerve. These parameters were tested under the influence of heme ligands such as oxygen, cyanide, 4-(2-aminoethyl)-benzenesulfonyl fluoride, and CO. During stimulation, there was an initial increase in discharge frequency followed by a decline or suppression of activity. Photometric changes lagged and were maintained as nerve activity decreased. Reducing mitochondrial cytochromes by cyanide or prolonged severe hypoxia, suppressed the chemoreceptor discharge. 4-(2-Aminoethyl)-benzenesulfonyl fluoride, a specific inhibitor of the phagocytic cytochrome b(558), also silenced the chemoreceptors after an initial excitation. CO increased the chemoreceptor discharge under normoxia, an effect inhibited by light, when the cytochromes were not reduced. When the discharges were depressed by severe hypoxia, exposure to light excited the chemoreceptors and the cytochromes were reduced. The rapidity of the chemosensory responses to light and lack of effect on dopamine release from type I cells led us to hypothesize that carotid body type I cells and the apposed nerve endings use different mechanisms for oxygen sensing: the nerve endings generate action potentials in association with membrane heme proteins whereas cytosolic heme proteins signal the redox state, releasing modulators or transmitters from type I cells.

Chemosensory response to high pCO is blocked by cadmium, a voltage-sensitive calcium channel blocker

In the dark, during normocapnic (pCO2=35 Torr, pHo=7.4) normoxia (pO2=100 Torr), high pCO (>300 Torr) causes Ca2+-dependent photolabile excitation of chemosensors in the carotid body (CB). We previously proposed that the source of this Ca2+ was the [Ca2+]i stores because CO would react only intracellularly. However, influx of extracellular Ca2+ was not excluded. Now, using perfused rat CB (n=6) in the presence of normal extracellular [Ca2+] we show that chemosensory response to CO (pCO approximately 550 Torr) in normoxic (pO2 approximately 100 Torr) normocapnia (pCO2 approximately 30 Torr, pH approximately 7.4) is completely but reversibly inhibited by Cd2+ (200 microM), a voltage-gated Ca2+ channel blocker. Thus, extracellular Ca2+ is necessary for excitatory chemosensory response to high pCO. Cd2+ block occurs in spite of an enhanced [Ca2+]i rise. This shows that Ca2+ rise alone is unable to release neurotransmitter and to elicit a chemosensory response. Therefore, as a corollary, we conclude that Cd2+ blocks the Ca2+ flux that is needed for vesicle-membrane fusion for neurotransmitter release and neural discharge.

Oxygen sensing and signaling: impact on the regulation of physiologically important genes

A growing number of physiologically relevant genes are regulated in response to changes in intracellular oxygen tension. It is likely that cells from a wide variety of tissues share a common mechanism of oxygen sensing and signal transduction leading to the activation of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1). Besides hypoxia, transition metals (Co2+, Ni2+ and Mn2+) and iron chelation also promote activation of HIF-1. Induction of HIF-1 by hypoxia is blocked by the heme ligands carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. There is growing, albeit indirect, evidence that the oxygen sensor is a flavoheme protein and that the signal transduction pathway involves changes in the level of intracellular reactive oxygen intermediates. The activation of HIF-1 by hypoxia depends upon signaling-dependent rescue of its alpha-subunit from oxygen-dependent degradation in the proteasome, allowing it to form a heterodimer with HIF-1beta (ARNT), which then translocates to the nucleus and impacts on the transcription of genes whose cis-acting elements contain cognate hypoxia response elements.

Endogenous carbon monoxide in control of respiration

It is being increasingly appreciated that gas molecules such as nitric oxide (NO) function as chemical messengers in the nervous system. Recent studies suggest that carbon monoxide (CO) is another gas molecule that has similar biological actions as NO. The purpose of this article is to highlight the current information on the significance of endogenously generated CO in control of breathing. In mammalian cells, CO is generated during oxidative cleavage of heme by heme oxygenases (HO) and molecular oxygen is essential for this reaction. Two forms of HO have been identified including an inducible HO-1, that resembles stress-inducible protein HSP-32, and a constitutively expressed HO-2. HO-2 is expressed in many respiratory related neural structures including airway ganglion, carotid body, petrosal and nodose ganglia., nucleus of the tractus solitarius (nTS), and neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). Basal expression of HO-1 is either very low or even absent, but can be elevated during oxidative stress and hypoxia. Physiological studies have shown that CO might be of importance in vagally mediated contractions of airways. Several lines of evidence indicate that endogenously generated CO is a physiological modulator of the ventilatory response to hypoxia via its actions on carotid bodies and perhaps at brainstem neurons. In addition, CO might play a role in ventilatory adaptation to hypoxia, as low oxygen is a potent inducer of HO-1. Many of the neuronal structures that express HO also contain NOS, the enzyme that generates NO. Much remains to be studied on regulatory interactions between CO and NO and their impact on breathing.

High PCO does not alter pHi, but raises [Ca2+]i in cultured rat carotid body glomus cells in the absence and presence of CdC12

We measured the effect of high PCO (500-550 Torr) on the pHi and [Ca2+]i in cultured glomus cells of adult rat carotid body (CB) as a test of the two models currently proposed for the mechanism of CB chemoreception. The metabolic model postulates that the rise in glomus cell [Ca2+]i, the initiating reaction in the signalling pathway leading to chemosensory neural discharge, is due to [Ca2+] release from intracellular Ca2+ stores. The membrane potential model postulates that the rise in [Ca2+]i comes from influx of extracellular Ca2+ through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCC) of the L-type. High PCO did not change pHi at PO2 of 120-135 Torr, showing that CO-induced changes in [Ca2+]i are not due to changes in pHi. High PCO caused a highly significant rise in [Ca2+]i from 90+/-12 nM to 675+/-65 nM, both in the absence and in the presence of 200 microM CdCl2, a potent blocker of L-type VDCCs. This result is fully consistent with release of Ca2+ from glomus cell intracellular stores according to metabolic model, but inconsistent with influx of extracellular Ca2+ through VDCCs according to the membrane potential model.

Further characterization of stimulus interaction of cat carotid chemoreceptors

The hypothesis that the maximal response to pCO2 of carotid body chemoreceptors would be the same regardless of pO2, if the receptor molecule behaves like a hemoglobin molecule, was investigated using single or a few fiber carotid body chemoreceptors in cats in vivo which were anesthetized and artificially ventilated. In one series, graded levels of CO2 inhalation in steady-state at p(a)O2 = 354 +/- 19 Torr showed a linear response from 1 to 20.1 +/- 2.3 imp/s for p(a)CO2 increase from 32 to 178 +/- 18 Torr, and at p(a)O2 of 48 +/- 3.8 Torr, from 3.8 to 18.6 +/- 1.7 imp/s for p(a)CO2 increase from 21 to 109 +/- 11 Torr, levelling off thereafter. In another series of multi-fiber preparation, close intra-arterial injection of blood plus saline containing pCO2 of about 270 Torr gave peak responses of 44 +/- 9, 42 +/- 6 and 42 +/- 7 imp/s at p(a)O2 of 40 +/- 4, 82 +/- 6 and 388 +/- 18 Torr, respectively. Thus, the chemosensory responses to p(a)CO2 reached the same level of maximal activity regardless of p(a)O2. Taken together, the maximal responses in both steady-state and transient-state to p(a)CO2 appeared to be the same at hypoxic and hyperoxic p(a)O2. This stimulus-response relationship of the receptor molecule is analogous to O2-CO2 interaction with hemoglobin molecule with a Bohr effect, reaching a saturation point at a finite pO2.

Sodium nitroprusside blocks the cat carotid chemosensory inhibition induced by dopamine, but not that by hyperoxia

We studied the effects of the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on cat chemosensory responses to intravenous injections of NaCN (0.1-100 microg/kg) and dopamine (0. 1-20 microg/kg), and to hyperoxic ventilation (100% O2, 60-120 s). Cats were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone, paralyzed and artificially ventilated to prevent secondary ventilatory effects. The frequency of chemosensory discharges (fx) was recorded from one sectioned carotid sinus nerve. L-NAME (50 mg/kg i.v.) increased basal fx and slightly potentiated the responses to NaCN and dopamine. SNP (1-2 mg/kg i.v.) increased basal fx, but reduced the NaCN-induced increases of fx over baseline and the transient fx inhibitions induced by dopamine, but not those produced by hyperoxia. Present results indicate that besides the known inhibitory effect of NO on chemosensory responses to low PO2, NO also blocks the chemosensory response to dopamine, leaving hyperoxic responses largely unchanged.

Dopamine increases in cat carotid body during excitation by carbon monoxide: implications for a chromophore theory of chemoreception

Studies of dopamine (DA) release were conducted with 10 perfused/superfused cat carotid bodies using shallow recessed Nafion polymer-coated microsensors (tips approximately 5 microns). Simultaneous measurements of tissue DA and neuronal discharge (ND) from the sinus nerve were made after switching from normoxic, normocapnic control perfusate (20% O2, 5% CO2, balance N2) to a normoxic, normocapnic perfusate equilibrated with a high tension (> 550 Torr) of carbon monoxide (CO). When high PCO perfusate was delivered in the dark, ND increased from a baseline of 89 +/- 24 (SE) impulses/s, to a peak excitation of 374 +/- 44 impulses/s within 15-30 s. Excitation then diminished to a plateau of 281 +/- 36 impulses/s within 1-2 min. Both peak and plateau ND were significantly above baseline (P < 0.05). Average tissue DA values increased above basal levels by +7.2 +/- 1.0 and +5.6 +/- 0.6 microns, respectively, during the peak and plateau ND phases (P < 0.05). Bright light restored the chemosensory activity to baseline, but had no effect on DA. Both chemosensory excitation and tissue DA responses to high CO in the dark were diminished in 3 carotid bodies perfused with Ca(2+)-free solutions. Responses were reduced even further with Ca2+ chelator (EGTA) in the perfusate. The results suggest that the effect of high PCO on DA release and chemosensory excitation are dependent on Ca2+ in the media, but the two events are not coupled.

Effect of CO on VO2 of carotid body and chemoreception with and without Ca2+

This study was done using high PCO (> 500 Torr at PO2 of 120 Torr) in the carotid body perfusate in vitro, and recording simultaneously the activity of the whole carotid sinus nerve (CSN) and VO2 of the carotid body. In the cascade of excitation of CSN by high PCO in the dark [light eliminated the excitation; S. Lahiri, News Physiol. Sci. 9 (1992) 161-165], Ca2+ effects occur at the level of neurosecretion after the level of oxygen consumption, according to the following scheme: CO-hypoxia-->VO2 decrease-->K+ conductance decrease-->cell depolarization-->cytosolic Ca2+ rise-->neurosecretion-->neural discharge. Thus, a part of the hypothesis was that [Ca2+] decrease, being a downstream event, may not affect VO2 of the carotid body. Also, to determine to what extent the intracellular calcium stores contribute to cystolic [Ca2+] and chemosensory discharge with high PCO, we tested the effect of interruption of perfusate flow with medium nominally free of [Ca2+] on CSN excitation and VO2 of the carotid body with and without high PCO. High PCO in the dark decreased carotid body VO2, independent of [Ca2+]o. CSN excitation was always enhanced by high PCO, and its sensitivity to perfusate flow interruption. Also, nominally Ca(2+)-free solution increased the latency and decreased the rate of rise and peak activity of CSN during interruption of perfusate flow, but CO augmented the responses. This reversal effect by CO suggests that Ca2+ is released from intracellular stores, because CO has no other way to excite the chemoreceptors than by acting on the intracellular stores.

Cat carotid body chemosensory responses to non-hypoxic stimuli are inhibited by sodium nitroprusside in situ and in vitro

We studied the effects of sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on the chemosensory responses to cyanide and nicotine in the cat carotid body. In situ, sodium nitroprusside infusion reduced the cyanide-evoked responses in a dose-dependent manner. In vitro, Tyrode containing nitroprusside reversibly reduced the cyanide- (by 59%) and nicotine-induced (by 45%) chemosensory responses. The present results suggest that chemosensory responses induced by cyanide and nicotine are reduced by increased nitric oxide content, similarly to the hypoxic chemosensory responses.

CO interact with intracellular [H+] with and without CO2-HCO3- in the cat carotid chemosensory discharge

To test the hypothesis whether CO2-HCO3- buffer is essential for the expression of chemoreception and to distinguish between pHi and pHo interaction with pCO in the carotid chemosensory response, we superfused-perfused in vitro cat carotid bodies using HEPES-Tyrode's solution with and without CO2-HCO3-, and compared the responses at the same pHo in the absence and presence of light. In the absence of light, pCO (> 138 Torr) stimulated the carotid body chemoreceptors in CO2-HCO3- buffer at pHo of 7.40, whereas pCO (69-550 Torr) did not stimulate the neural discharge in HEPES buffer at the pHo of 7.4-7.1 but did so below pHo 7.1. In the presence of light, all the responses were diminished proportionately.

Ventilatory and metabolic responses to ambient hypoxia or hypercapnia in rats exposed to CO hypoxia

We have investigated at ambient temperatures (Tam) of 25 and 5 degrees C the effects of ambient hypoxia (Hxam; fractional inspired O2 = 0.14) and hypercapnia (fractional inspired CO2 = 0.04) on ventilation (V), O2 uptake (VO2), and colonic temperature (Tc) in 12 conscious rats before and after carotid body denervation (CBD). The rats were concomitantly exposed to CO hypoxia (HxCO; fractional inspired CO = 0.03-0.05%), which decreases arterial O2 saturation by approximately 25-40%. The results demonstrate the following. 1) At Tam of 5 degrees C, in both intact and CBD rats, V/VO2 is larger when Hxam or CO2 is associated with HxCO than with normoxia. At Tam of 25 degrees C, this is also the case except for CO2 in CBD rats. 2) At Tam of 5 degrees C, the changes in VO2 and Tc seem to result from additive effects of the separate changes induced by Hxam, CO2, and HxCO. It is concluded that, in conscious rats, central hypoxia does not depress respiratory activity. On the contrary, particularly when VO2 is augmented during a cold stress, both V/VO2 during HxCO and the ventilatory responses to Hxam and CO2 are increased. The mechanisms involved in this relative hyperventilation are likely to involve diencephalic integrative structures.

Potential role of H2O2 in chemoreception in the cat carotid body

The hypothesis that H2O2 plays a critical role in hypoxic chemoreception in the cat carotid body (CB) was tested using a perfused-superfused preparation in vitro, measuring chemosensory discharge and CB tissue PO2 (PtiO2). According to the hypothesis NADPH mediated, PO2 dependent increase in H2O2 production would hyperpolarize the glomus cell, decreasing the chemosensory discharge. Thus, lactate and aminotriazole which would increase H2O2 concentration, would decrease the chemosensory discharge during hypoxia. However, 2.5-5.0 mM lactate and 25 mM aminotriazole did not diminish the hypoxic response. But, 2.5 mM lactate decreased the chemosensory discharge during normoxia which can be explained by an increase of CB PtiO2. Diethyldithiocarbamic acid (5 mM), which blocks the conversion of superoxide to H2O2, also diminished the chemosensory discharge, presumably due to an increased CB PtiO2. Menadione (increasing H2O2) and t-butyl hydroperoxide irreversibly decreased the chemosensory discharge, and the data are not useful. H2O2 increased the PO2 of the perfusate, and therefore could not be tested against PO2. Thus, perturbation of endogenous or exogenous H2O2 did not provide any evidence for its critical role in O2 chemoreception.

Carbon monoxide: an endogenous modulator of the nitric oxide-cyclic GMP signaling system

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an activator of soluble guanylyl cyclase and is implicated as a neuronal messenger. CO production, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, and guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) levels were quantitated in cerebellar granule cell cultures. Metabolic labeling experiments enabled the direct measurement of neuronal CO production in vitro. CO production is significant, and peaked during early stages of culture. NOS activity and cGMP levels synchronously increased as cells matured. Whereas inhibition of NOS depleted cGMP in mature cultures, inhibitors of CO production potentiated the nitric oxide (NO)-mediated cGMP increase. Exogenous CO at similar concentrations to endogenous levels blocked the NO-mediated cGMP increase. These results directly demonstrate that endogenous neuronal CO production is high and indicate that while NO is the major regulator of cGMP in these neurons, CO may modulate the NO-cGMP signaling system.

Stimulus interaction between CO and CO2 in the cat carotid body chemoreception

Since high PCO in the dark works like hypoxia in the carotid body chemoreceptors and since hypoxia shows a stimulus interaction with CO2, it is hypothesized that high PCO will show a similar interaction with PCO2 in the chemosensory excitation in the dark. We tested the hypothesis using cat carotid body perfused and superfused in vitro with Po2 of about 100 Torr. In one series, the chemosensory discharges were tested at three levels of PCO2 at high PCO of 500 Torr in the absence and presence of light. In the dark, normocapnia (PCO2 approximately 30 Torr) with high PCO promptly stimulated the sensory discharges to a peak, subsiding to a lower level. In hypocapnia (PCO2 approximately 18 Torr) with high PCO, all phases of activities were significantly lower than those of normocapnia, showing stimulus interaction. Hypercapnia saturated the activity with high PCO and seems to preclude a clear demonstration of stimulus interaction. In another series, an intermediate level of PCO (approximately 150 Torr), which showed a half-maximal activity in normoxia, showed a clear interaction with hypercapnia in the dark. With high PCO, bright light promptly reduced the activity to baseline at all PCO2 levels. This then increased somewhat to a steady-state. Withdrawal of the light was followed by a sharp rise in the activity to a peak which then fell to a somewhat lower level of steady-state. The peak discharge rate in the presence of light did not differ significantly from those of PCO2 alone.

Cellular mechanisms of oxygen chemoreception in the carotid body

The carotid bodies (CB) are arterial chemoreceptors that by sensing changes of arterial PO2, PCO2 and pH can initiate and modify ventilatory and cardiovascular reflexes in order to maintain PO2, PCO2 and pH within physiological levels. It is now generally accepted that the glomus or type I cells of the CB are the transducers of hypoxic stimuli, and relay chemosensory information to the brainstem via neurotransmitter release at synaptic contacts with afferent terminals of the carotid sinus nerve. This article reviews the mechanisms of the O2-sensing process at the cellular level. We consider first the transduction of the hypoxic stimulus, in which most of the experimental evidence currently favors a mechanism involving modulation of the electrical properties of type I cells. The last part of the article deals with the transmission of the stimulus between type I cells and afferent nerve terminals, and we present an overview on the issue of neurotransmission in the CB, summarizing the actions of the main neurotransmitters present in the organ.

Reciprocal photolabile O2 consumption and chemoreceptor excitation by carbon monoxide in the cat carotid body: evidence for cytochrome a3 as the primary O2 sensor

High carbon monoxide (CO) gas tensions (> 500 Torr) at normoxic PO2 (125-140 Torr) stimulates carotid chemosensory discharge in the perfused carotid body (CB) in the absence but not in the presence of light. According to a metabolic hypothesis of O2 chemoreception, the increased chemosensory discharge should correspond to a photoreversible decrease of O2 consumption, unlike a non-respiratory hypothesis. We tested the respiratory vs. non-respiratory hypotheses of O2 chemoreception in the cat CB by measuring the effect of high CO. Experiments were conducted using CBs perfused and superfused in vitro with high CO in normoxic, normocapnic cell-free CO2-HCO3- buffer solution at 37 degrees C. Simultaneous measurements of the rate of O2 disappearance with recessed PO2 microelectrodes and chemosensory discharge were made after flow interruption with and without CO in the perfusate. The control O2 disappearance rate without CO was -3.66 +/- 0.43 (S.E.) Torr/s (100 measurements in 12 cat CBs). In the dark, high CO reduced the O2 disappearance rate to -2.35 +/- 0.33 Torr/s, or 64.2 +/- 9.0% of control (P < 0.005, 34 measurements). High CO was excitatory in the dark, with an increase in baseline neural discharge from 129.2 +/- 47.0 to 399.3 +/- 49.1 impulses per s (P < 0.0001), and maximum discharge rate of 659 +/- 76 impulses/s (N.S. compared to control) during flow interruption. During perfusion with high CO in the light, there were no significant differences in baseline neural discharge or in the maximum neural discharge after flow interruption, and little effect on O2 metabolism (88.8 +/- 11.5% of control, N.S., 29 measurements).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carbon monoxide: a role in carotid body chemoreception

Carbon monoxide (CO), produced endogenously by heme oxygenase, has been implicated as a neuronal messenger. Carotid bodies are sensory organs that regulate ventilation by responding to alterations of blood oxygen, CO2, and pH. Changes in blood gases are sensed by glomus cells in the carotid body that synapse on afferent terminals of the carotid sinus nerve that projects to respiratory-related neurons in the brainstem. Using immunocytochemistry, we demonstrate that heme oxygenase 2 is localized to glomus cells in the cat and rat carotid bodies. Physiological studies show that zinc protoporphyrin IX, a potent heme oxygenase inhibitor, markedly increases carotid body sensory activity, while copper protoporphyrin IX, which does not inhibit the enzyme, is inactive. Exogenous CO reverses the stimulatory effects of zinc protoporphyrin IX. These results suggest that glomus cells are capable of synthesizing CO and endogenous CO appears to be a physiologic regulator of carotid body sensory activity.