A comparison of simultaneously recorded muscle and skin vasoconstrictor population activities in the rat using frequency domain analysis

Impact of lung inflation cycle frequency on rat muscle and skin sympathetic activity recorded using suction electrodes

Microneurography has been used in humans to study sympathetic activity supplying targets within skeletal muscle and skin. Comparable animal studies are relatively few, probably due to the technical demands of traditional fibre picking techniques. Here we apply a simple suction electrode technique to record cutaneous (CVC) and muscle (MVC) vasoconstrictor activities and describe and investigate the basis of the frequency dependence of lung inflation related modulation. Hindlimb MVC and CVC activities were recorded concurrently. The magnitude of MVC and CVC activities at the lung inflation cycle frequency was significantly less at 2.0 Hz than at lung inflation cycle frequencies < or =1.0 Hz. As lung inflation cycle frequency was increased the coherence between lung inflation cycle or BP and MVC or CVC waveforms decreased. Consistent with the hypothesis that much of the coherence between lung inflation cycle and nerve activity waveforms is secondary to oscillating baroreceptor activity attributable to BP waves, partialization with the BP waveform significantly decreased the coherence between lung inflation cycle and nerve waveforms, and there was an absence of coherence between these waveforms following sinus and aortic denervation. Our data extend findings from other laboratories and establish the value of a suction electrode technique for recording MVC and CVC activities. Furthermore, our observations describe the rates of positive pressure ventilation that avoid strong and regular gating of sympathetic activity.

Functional topography of the dorsomedial hypothalamus

The dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) has been proposed to play key roles in both the defense reaction to acute stress and in the thermoregulatory response to cold. We reasoned that the autonomic/respiratory motor patterns of these responses would be mediated by at least partly distinct DMH neuron populations. To test this, we made simultaneous recordings of phrenic nerve and plantar cutaneous vasoconstrictor (CVC) activity in 14 vagotomized, ventilated, urethane-anesthetized rats. Microinjections of d,l-homocysteic acid (DLH; 15 nl, 50 mM) were used to cause localized, short-lasting (<1 min) activation of DMH neuron clusters. Cooling the rat's trunk skin by perfusing cold water through a water jacket-activated plantar CVC activity but depressed phrenic burst rate (cold-response pattern). The expected “stress/defense response” pattern would be phrenic activation, with increased blood pressure, heart rate, and possibly CVC activity. DLH microinjections into 76 sites within the DMH region never reduced phrenic activity. They frequently increased phrenic rate and/or plantar CVC activity, but the magnitudes of those two responses were not significantly correlated. Plantar CVC responses were evoked most strongly from the dorsal hypothalamic area and most dorsal part of the dorsomedial nucleus, whereas peak phrenic rate responses were evoked from more caudal sites; their relative magnitudes varied systematically with rostrocaudal position. Tachycardia correlated with plantar CVC responses but not phrenic rate. These findings indicate that localized activation of DMH neurons does not evoke full “cold-response” or stress/defense response patterns, but they demonstrate the existence of significant functional topography within the DMH region.

Generation of a physiological sympathetic motor rhythm in the rat following spinal application of 5-HT

When applied in vitro to various CNS structures 5-HT and/or NMDA have been observed to generate rhythmic nervous activity. In contrast, reports of similar in vivo actions are relatively rare. Here we describe a physiological sympathetic motor rhythm regulating the thermoregulatory circulation of the rat tail (T-rhythm; 0.40-1.20 Hz) that can be elicited following intrathecal (i.t.) application of 5-HT to an in situ'isolated' spinal cord preparation (anaesthetized rats spinalized at T10-T11 and cauda equina cut). i.t. injections were delivered to L1 as sympathetic neuronal activity to the tail (SNAT) arises from preganglionic neurones at T11-L2. SNAT was abolished after spinal transection (n = 18) and it did not return spontaneously. The administration of 5-HT (250 nmol) generated rhythmic sympathetic discharges (n = 6). The mean frequency of the T-like rhythm during the highest level of activity was 0.88 +/- 0.04 Hz which was not significantly different from the T-rhythm frequency observed in intact animals (0.77 +/- 0.02 Hz; P > 0.05 n = 16). In contrast, NMDA (1 micromol) generated an irregular tonic activity, but it failed to generate a T-like rhythm (n = 9), even though the mean levels of activity were not significantly different to those produced by 5-HT. However, 5-HT (250 nmol) applied after NMDA generated a T-like rhythm (0.95 +/- 0.11 Hz, n = 6). Our observations support the idea that 5-HT released from rostral ventromedial medullary neurones, known to innervate sympathetic preganglionic neurones, can induce sympathetic rhythmic activity.