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Paton JFR, Machado BH, Moraes DJA, Zoccal DB, Abdala AP, Smith JC, Antunes VR, Murphy D, Dutschmann M, Dhingra RR, McAllen R, Pickering AE, Wilson RJA, Day TA, Barioni NO, Allen AM, Menuet C, Donnelly J, Felippe I, St-John WM. Advancing respiratory-cardiovascular physiology with the working heart-brainstem preparation over 25 years. J Physiol 2022; 600:2049-2075. [PMID: 35294064 PMCID: PMC9322470 DOI: 10.1113/jp281953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Twenty‐five years ago, a new physiological preparation called the working heart–brainstem preparation (WHBP) was introduced with the claim it would provide a new platform allowing studies not possible before in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, autonomic and respiratory research. Herein, we review some of the progress made with the WHBP, some advantages and disadvantages along with potential future applications, and provide photographs and technical drawings of all the customised equipment used for the preparation. Using mice or rats, the WHBP is an in situ experimental model that is perfused via an extracorporeal circuit benefitting from unprecedented surgical access, mechanical stability of the brain for whole cell recording and an uncompromised use of pharmacological agents akin to in vitro approaches. The preparation has revealed novel mechanistic insights into, for example, the generation of distinct respiratory rhythms, the neurogenesis of sympathetic activity, coupling between respiration and the heart and circulation, hypothalamic and spinal control mechanisms, and peripheral and central chemoreceptor mechanisms. Insights have been gleaned into diseases such as hypertension, heart failure and sleep apnoea. Findings from the in situ preparation have been ratified in conscious in vivo animals and when tested have translated to humans. We conclude by discussing potential future applications of the WHBP including two‐photon imaging of peripheral and central nervous systems and adoption of pharmacogenetic tools that will improve our understanding of physiological mechanisms and reveal novel mechanisms that may guide new treatment strategies for cardiorespiratory diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian F R Paton
- Manaaki Manawa - The Centre for Heart Research, Faculty of Medical & Health Science, University of Auckland, Park Road, Grafton, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Benedito H Machado
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Davi J A Moraes
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Daniel B Zoccal
- Department of Physiology and Pathology, School of Dentistry of Araraquara, São Paulo State University, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ana P Abdala
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Jeffrey C Smith
- Cellular and Systems Neurobiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Vagner R Antunes
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - David Murphy
- Molecular Neuroendocrinology Research Group, Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Mathias Dutschmann
- Florey institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Rishi R Dhingra
- Florey institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Robin McAllen
- Florey institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Anthony E Pickering
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Richard J A Wilson
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Trevor A Day
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Nicole O Barioni
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Andrew M Allen
- Department of Anatomy & Physiology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Clément Menuet
- Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée, INMED UMR1249, INSERM, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Joseph Donnelly
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Igor Felippe
- Manaaki Manawa - The Centre for Heart Research, Faculty of Medical & Health Science, University of Auckland, Park Road, Grafton, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Walter M St-John
- Emeritus Professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth, New Hampshire, USA
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Ghali MGZ. Phrenic motoneurons: output elements of a highly organized intraspinal network. J Neurophysiol 2018; 119:1057-1070. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00705.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
pontomedullary respiratory network generates the respiratory pattern and relays it to bulbar and spinal respiratory motor outputs. The phrenic motor system controlling diaphragm contraction receives and processes descending commands to produce orderly, synchronous, and cycle-to-cycle-reproducible spatiotemporal firing. Multiple investigators have studied phrenic motoneurons (PhMNs) in an attempt to shed light on local mechanisms underlying phrenic pattern formation. I and colleagues (Marchenko V, Ghali MG, Rogers RF. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 308: R916–R926, 2015.) recorded PhMNs in unanesthetized, decerebrate rats and related their activity to simultaneous phrenic nerve (PhN) activity by creating a time-frequency representation of PhMN-PhN power and coherence. On the basis of their temporal firing patterns and relationship to PhN activity, we categorized PhMNs into three classes, each of which emerges as a result of intrinsic biophysical and network properties and organizes the orderly contraction of diaphragm motor fibers. For example, early inspiratory diaphragmatic activation by the early coherent burst generated by high-frequency PhMNs may be necessary to prime it to overcome its initial inertia. We have also demonstrated the existence of a prominent role for local intraspinal inhibitory mechanisms in shaping phrenic pattern formation. The objective of this review is to relate and synthesize recent findings with those of previous studies with the aim of demonstrating that the phrenic nucleus is a region of active local processing, rather than a passive relay of descending inputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael George Zaki Ghali
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Tachikawa S, Nakayama K, Nakamura S, Mochizuki A, Iijima T, Inoue T. Coordinated Respiratory Motor Activity in Nerves Innervating the Upper Airway Muscles in Rats. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166436. [PMID: 27832132 PMCID: PMC5104329 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Maintaining the patency of the upper airway during breathing is of vital importance. The activity of various muscles is related to the patency of the upper airway. In the present study, we examined the respiratory motor activity in the efferent nerves innervating the upper airway muscles to determine the movements of the upper airway during respiration under normocapnic conditions (pH = 7.4) and in hypercapnic acidosis (pH = 7.2). Experiments were performed on arterially perfused decerebrate rats aged between postnatal days 21–35. We recorded the efferent nerve activity in a branch of the cervical spinal nerve innervating the infrahyoid muscles (CN), the hypoglossal nerve (HGN), the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN), and the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) with the phrenic nerve (PN). Inspiratory nerve discharges were observed in all these nerves under normocapnic conditions. The onset of inspiratory discharges in the CN and HGN was slightly prior to those in the SLN and RLN. When the CO2 concentration in the perfusate was increased from 5% to 8% to prepare for hypercapnic acidosis, the peak amplitudes of the inspiratory discharges in all the recorded nerves were increased. Moreover, hypercapnic acidosis induced pre-inspiratory discharges in the CN, HGN, SLN, and RLN. The onset of pre-inspiratory discharges in the CN, HGN, and SLN was prior to that of discharges in the RLN. These results suggest that the securing of the airway that occurs a certain time before dilation of the glottis may facilitate ventilation and improve hypercapnic acidosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Tachikawa
- Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142–8555, Japan
- Department of Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Oota-ku, Tokyo 145–8515, Japan
| | - Kiyomi Nakayama
- Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142–8555, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Shiro Nakamura
- Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142–8555, Japan
| | - Ayako Mochizuki
- Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142–8555, Japan
| | - Takehiko Iijima
- Department of Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Oota-ku, Tokyo 145–8515, Japan
| | - Tomio Inoue
- Department of Oral Physiology, Showa University School of Dentistry, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142–8555, Japan
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Moraes DJA, Machado BH, Paton JFR. Carotid body overactivity induces respiratory neurone channelopathy contributing to neurogenic hypertension. J Physiol 2015; 593:3055-63. [PMID: 25900825 DOI: 10.1113/jp270423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2015] [Accepted: 04/19/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Why sympathetic activity rises in neurogenic hypertension remains unknown. It has been postulated that changes in the electrical excitability of medullary pre-sympathetic neurones are the main causal mechanism for the development of sympathetic overactivity in experimental hypertension. Here we review recent data suggesting that enhanced sympathetic activity in neurogenic hypertension is, at least in part, dependent on alterations in the electrical excitability of medullary respiratory neurones and their central modulation of sympatho-excitatory networks. We also present results showing a critical role for carotid body tonicity in the aetiology of enhanced central respiratory modulation of sympathetic activity in neurogenic hypertension. We propose a novel hypothesis of respiratory neurone channelopathy induced by carotid body overactivity in neurogenic hypertension that may contribute to sympathetic excess. Moreover, our data support the notion of targeting the carotid body as a potential novel therapeutic approach for reducing sympathetic vasomotor tone in neurogenic hypertension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davi J A Moraes
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Benedito H Machado
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Julian F R Paton
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bristol CardioVascular, Medical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
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Koganezawa T, Paton JFR. Intrinsic chemosensitivity of rostral ventrolateral medullary sympathetic premotor neurons in the in situ arterially perfused preparation of rats. Exp Physiol 2014; 99:1453-66. [PMID: 25016023 DOI: 10.1113/expphysiol.2014.080069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Brainstem hypoperfusion is a major excitant of sympathetic activity triggering hypertension, but the exact mechanisms involved remain incompletely understood. A major source of excitatory drive to preganglionic sympathetic neurons originates from the ongoing activity of premotor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons). The chemosensitivity profile of physiologically characterized RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons during hypoxia and hypercapnia remains unclear. We examined whether physiologically characterized RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons can sense brainstem ischaemia intrinsically. We addressed this issue in a unique in situ arterially perfused preparation before and after a complete blockade of fast excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. During hypercapnic hypoxia, respiratory modulation of RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons was lost, but tonic firing of most RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons was elevated. After blockade of fast excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons continued to fire and exhibited an excitatory firing response to hypoxia but not hypercapnia. This study suggests that RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons can sustain high levels of neuronal discharge when oxygen is scarce. The intrinsic ability of RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons to maintain responsivity to brainstem hypoxia is an important mechanism ensuring adequate arterial pressure, essential for maintaining cerebral perfusion in the face of depressed ventilation and/or high cerebral vascular resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadachika Koganezawa
- Department of Physiology, Division of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan
| | - Julian F R Paton
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bristol Heart Institute, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
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St-John WM, Stornetta RL, Guyenet PG, Paton JFR. Location and properties of respiratory neurones with putative intrinsic bursting properties in the rat in situ. J Physiol 2009; 587:3175-88. [PMID: 19417093 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2009.170308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the in situ arterially perfused preparations of both neonatal and juvenile rats, we provide the first description of the location, morphology and transmitter content of a population of respiratory neurones that retains a bursting behaviour after ionotropic receptor blockade. All burster neurones exhibited an inspiratory discharge during eupnoeic respiration. These neurones were predominantly glutamatergic, and were located within a region of the ventral respiratory column that encompasses the pre-Bötzinger complex and the more caudally located ventral respiratory group. Bursting behaviour was both voltage and persistent sodium current dependent and could be stimulated by sodium cyanide to activate this persistent sodium current. The population of burster neurones may overlap with that previously described in the neonatal slice in vitro. Based upon the present and previous findings, we hypothesize that this burster discharge may be released when the brain is subject to severe hypoxia or ischaemia, and that this burster discharge could underlie gasping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walter M St-John
- Department of Physiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA.
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Marchenko V, Rogers RF. Selective loss of high-frequency oscillations in phrenic and hypoglossal activity in the decerebrate rat during gasping. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2006; 291:R1414-29. [PMID: 16825420 DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00217.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Respiratory motor outputs contain medium-(MFO) and high-frequency oscillations (HFO) that are much faster than the fundamental breathing rhythm. However, the associated changes in power spectral characteristics of the major respiratory outputs in unanesthetized animals during the transition from normal eupneic breathing to hypoxic gasping have not been well characterized. Experiments were performed on nine unanesthetized, chemo- and barodenervated, decerebrate adult rats, in which asphyxia elicited hyperpnea, followed by apnea and gasping. A gated fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis and a novel time-frequency representation (TFR) analysis were developed and applied to whole phrenic and to medial branch hypoglossal nerve recordings. Our results revealed one MFO and one HFO peak in the phrenic output during eupnea, where HFO was prominent in the first two-thirds of the burst and MFO was prominent in the latter two-thirds of the burst. The hypoglossal activity contained broadband power distribution with several distinct peaks. During gasping, two high-amplitude MFO peaks were present in phrenic activity, and this state was characterized by a conspicuous loss in HFO power. Hypoglossal activity showed a significant reduction in power and a shift in its distribution toward lower frequencies during gasping. TFR analysis of phrenic activity revealed the increasing importance of an initial low-frequency “start-up” burst that grew in relative intensity as hypoxic conditions persisted. Significant changes in MFO and HFO rhythm generation during the transition from eupnea to gasping presumably reflect a reconfiguration of the respiratory network and/or alterations in signal processing by the circuitry associated with the two motor pools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitaliy Marchenko
- Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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Potts JT, Paton JFR. Optical imaging of medullary ventral respiratory network during eupnea and gaspingIn situ. Eur J Neurosci 2006; 23:3025-33. [PMID: 16819991 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04809.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In severe hypoxia, respiratory rhythm is shifted from an eupneic, ramp-like motor pattern to gasping characterized by a decrementing pattern of phrenic motor activity. However, it is not known whether hypoxia reconfigures the spatiotemporal organization of the central respiratory rhythm generator. Using the in situ arterially perfused juvenile rat preparation, we investigated whether the shift from eupnea to gasping was associated with a reconfiguration of the spatiotemporal pattern of respiratory neuronal activity in the ventral medullary respiratory network. Optical images of medullary respiratory network activity were obtained from male rats (4-6 weeks of age). Part of the medullary network was stained with a voltage-sensitive dye (di-2 ANEPEQ) centred both within, and adjacent to, the pre-Bötzinger complex (Pre-BötC). During eupnea, optical signals initially increased prior to the onset of phrenic activity and progressively intensified during the inspiratory phase peaking at the end of inspiration. During early expiration, fluorescence was also detected and slowly declined throughout this phase. In contrast, hypoxia shifted the respiratory motor pattern from eupnea to gasping and optical signals were restricted to inspiration only. Areas active during gasping showed fluorescence that was more intensive and covered a larger region of the rostral ventrolateral medulla compared to eupnea. Regions exhibiting peak inspiratory fluorescence did not coincide spatially during eupnea and gasping. Moreover, there was a recruitment of additional medullary regions during gasping that were not active during eupnea. These results provide novel evidence that the shift in respiratory motor pattern from eupnea to gasping appears to be associated with a reconfiguration of the central respiratory rhythm generator characterized by changes in its spatiotemporal organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey T Potts
- Department of Biomedical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, 134 Research Park Dr, Columbia, 65211, USA.
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Pickering AE, Paton JFR. A decerebrate, artificially-perfused in situ preparation of rat: utility for the study of autonomic and nociceptive processing. J Neurosci Methods 2006; 155:260-71. [PMID: 16499970 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2005] [Revised: 01/15/2006] [Accepted: 01/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
By extending established technology, we have developed a relatively simple in situ preparation from juvenile rat that overcomes some technical restrictions present in vivo (e.g. need for anaesthesia, mechanical instability for intracellular recording and control over the extracellular milieu). The in situ preparation is decerebrate and artificially perfused via the left ventricle with a colloid containing solution. It exhibits an eupneic pattern of respiratory motor activity and demonstrates numerous somatic and visceral reflexes including those evoked by stimulation of the tail, hindlimbs, bladder, baroreceptors and peripheral chemoreceptors. We have employed this preparation to allow recordings from multiple sympathetic motor outflows such as thoracic and lumbar chain, inferior cardiac, splanchnic, renal and adrenal nerves. We show that the sympathetic motor discharge shows strong respiratory modulation and exhibits pronounced reflex modulation indicating intact communication between the periphery, the brainstem and the spinal cord. Further, we have made extracellular and whole cell recordings from neurones in the spinal cord, demonstrating good mechanical stability. The decerebrate, artificially-perfused rat (DAPR) provides a powerful methodology with which to study peripheral and central control of the autonomic nervous system with many of the benefits of an in vitro environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony E Pickering
- Department of Anaesthesia, Bristol Royal Infirmary, University of Bristol, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK.
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