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Joyce W, Axelsson M, Wang T. Contraction of atrial smooth muscle reduces cardiac output in perfused turtle hearts. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.199828. [PMID: 30787139 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.199828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Unusual undulations in resting tension (tonus waves) were described in isolated atria from freshwater turtles more than a century ago. These tonus waves were soon after married with the histological demonstration of a rich layer of smooth muscle on the luminal side of the atrial wall. Research thereafter waned and the functional significance of this smooth muscle has remained obscure. Here, we provide evidence that contraction of the smooth muscle in the atria may be able to change cardiac output in turtle hearts. In in situ perfused hearts of the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans), we demonstrated that activation of smooth muscle contraction with histamine (100 nmol kg-1 bolus injected into perfusate) reduced cardiac output by decreasing stroke volume (>50% decrease in both parameters). Conversely, inhibition of smooth muscle contraction with wortmannin (10 µmol l-1 perfusion) approximately doubled baseline stroke volume and cardiac output. We suggest that atrial smooth muscle provides a unique mechanism to control cardiac filling that could be involved in the regulation of stroke volume during diving.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Joyce
- Department of Bioscience, Section for Zoophysiology, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Michael Axelsson
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, SE 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Tobias Wang
- Department of Bioscience, Section for Zoophysiology, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.,Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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Bayley M, Damsgaard C, Thomsen M, Malte H, Wang T. Learning to Air-Breathe: The First Steps. Physiology (Bethesda) 2019; 34:14-29. [DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00028.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Air-breathing in vertebrates has evolved many times among the bony fish while in water. Its appearance has had a fundamental impact on the regulation of ventilation and acid-base status. We review the physico-chemical constraints imposed by water and air, place the extant air-breathing fish into this framework, and show how that the advantages of combining control of ventilation and acid-base status are only available to the most obligate of air-breathing fish, thus highlighting promising avenues for research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Bayley
- Section for Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Christian Damsgaard
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Mikkel Thomsen
- Section for Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Hans Malte
- Section for Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Tobias Wang
- Section for Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Aarhus Institute of Advanced Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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García-Párraga D, Lorenzo T, Wang T, Ortiz JL, Ortega J, Crespo-Picazo JL, Cortijo J, Fahlman A. Deciphering function of the pulmonary arterial sphincters in loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.179820. [PMID: 30348649 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.179820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
To provide new insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying gas emboli (GE) in bycaught loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), we investigated the vasoactive characteristics of the pulmonary and systemic arteries, and the lung parenchyma (LP). Tissues were opportunistically excised from recently dead animals for in vitro studies of vasoactive responses to four different neurotransmitters: acetylcholine (ACh; parasympathetic), serotonin (5HT), adrenaline (Adr; sympathetic) and histamine. The significant amount of smooth muscle in the LP contracted in response to ACh, Adr and histamine. The intrapulmonary and systemic arteries contracted under both parasympathetic and sympathetic stimulation and when exposed to 5HT. However, proximal extrapulmonary arterial (PEPA) sections contracted in response to ACh and 5HT, whereas Adr caused relaxation. In sea turtles, the relaxation in the pulmonary artery was particularly pronounced at the level of the pulmonary artery sphincter (PASp), where the vessel wall was highly muscular. For comparison, we also studied tissue response in freshwater sliders turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). Both PEPA and LP from freshwater sliders contracted in response to 5HT, ACh and also Adr. We propose that in sea turtles, the dive response (parasympathetic tone) constricts the PEPA, LP and PASp, causing a pulmonary shunt and limiting gas uptake at depth, which reduces the risk of GE during long and deep dives. Elevated sympathetic tone caused by forced submersion during entanglement with fishing gear increases the pulmonary blood flow causing an increase in N2 uptake, potentially leading to the formation of blood and tissue GE at the surface. These findings provide potential physiological and anatomical explanations on how these animals have evolved a cardiac shunt pattern that regulates gas exchange during deep and prolonged diving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel García-Párraga
- Fundación Oceanografic de la Comunidad Valenciana, Gran Vía Marques del Turia 19, 46005 Valencia, Spain
| | - Teresa Lorenzo
- Fundación Oceanografic de la Comunidad Valenciana, Gran Vía Marques del Turia 19, 46005 Valencia, Spain
| | - Tobias Wang
- Zoophysiology, Department of Biosciences, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jose-Luis Ortiz
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Joaquín Ortega
- Patología y Sanidad Animal, Departamento PASAPTA, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad CEU-Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Moncada, 46018 Valencia, Spain
| | - Jose-Luis Crespo-Picazo
- Fundación Oceanografic de la Comunidad Valenciana, Gran Vía Marques del Turia 19, 46005 Valencia, Spain
| | - Julio Cortijo
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Andreas Fahlman
- Fundación Oceanografic de la Comunidad Valenciana, Gran Vía Marques del Turia 19, 46005 Valencia, Spain.,Department of Life Science, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA
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Venous pressures and cardiac filling in turtles during apnoea and intermittent ventilation. J Comp Physiol B 2017; 188:481-490. [DOI: 10.1007/s00360-017-1132-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 10/01/2017] [Accepted: 10/15/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Santin JM. How important is the CO 2 chemoreflex for the control of breathing? Environmental and evolutionary considerations. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2017; 215:6-19. [PMID: 28966145 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Revised: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Haldane and Priestley (1905) discovered that the ventilatory control system is highly sensitive to CO2. This "CO2 chemoreflex" has been interpreted to dominate control of resting arterial PCO2/pH (PaCO2/pHa) by monitoring PaCO2/pHa and altering ventilation through negative feedback. However, PaCO2/pHa varies little in mammals as ventilation tightly couples to metabolic demands, which may minimize chemoreflex control of PaCO2. The purpose of this synthesis is to (1) interpret data from experimental models with meager CO2 chemoreflexes to infer their role in ventilatory control of steady-state PaCO2, and (2) identify physiological causes of respiratory acidosis occurring normally across vertebrate classes. Interestingly, multiple rodent and amphibian models with minimal/absent CO2 chemoreflexes exhibit normal ventilation, gas exchange, and PaCO2/pHa. The chemoreflex, therefore, plays at most a minor role in ventilatory control at rest; however, the chemoreflex may be critical for recovering PaCO2 following acute respiratory acidosis induced by breath-holding and activity in many ectothermic vertebrates. An apparently small role for CO2 feedback in the genesis of normal breathing contradicts the prevailing view that central CO2/pH chemoreceptors increased in importance throughout vertebrate evolution. Since the CO2 chemoreflex contributes minimally to resting ventilation, these CO2 chemoreceptors may have instead decreased importance throughout tetrapod evolution, particularly with the onset and refinement of neural innovations that improved the matching of ventilation to tissue metabolic demands. This distinct and elusive "metabolic ventilatory drive" likely underlies steady-state PaCO2 in air-breathers. Uncovering the mechanisms and evolution of the metabolic ventilatory drive presents a challenge to clinically-oriented and comparative respiratory physiologists alike.
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Malte CL, Malte H, Wang T. The long road to steady state in gas exchange: metabolic and ventilatory responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia in Cuvier's dwarf caiman. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 219:3810-3821. [PMID: 27618857 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.143537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animals with intermittent lung ventilation and those exposed to hypoxia and hypercapnia will experience fluctuations in the bodily O2 and CO2 stores, but the magnitude and duration of these changes are not well understood amongst ectotherms. Using the changes in the respiratory exchange ratio (RER; CO2 excretion divided by O2 uptake) as a proxy for changes in bodily gas stores, we quantified time constants in response to hypoxia and hypercapnia in Cuvier's dwarf caiman. We confirm distinct and prolonged changes in RER during and after exposure to hypoxia or hypercapnia. Gas exchange transients were evaluated in reference to predictions from a two-compartment model of CO2 exchange to quantify the effects of the levels of hypoxia and hypercapnia, duration of hypercapnia (30-300 min) and body temperature (23 versus 33°C). For hypercapnia, the transients could be adequately fitted by two-phase exponential functions, and slow time constants (after 300 min hypercapnia) concurred reasonably well with modelling predictions. The slow time constants for the decays after hypercapnia were not affected by the level of hypercapnia, but they increased (especially at 23°C) with exposure time, possibly indicating a temporal and slow recruitment of tissues for CO2 storage. In contrast to modelling predictions, elevated body temperature did not reduce the time constants, probably reflecting similar ventilation rates in transients at 23 and 33°C. Our study reveals that attainment of steady state for gas exchange requires considerable time and this has important implications for designing experimental protocols when studying ventilatory control and conducting respirometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Lind Malte
- Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Hans Malte
- Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Tobias Wang
- Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
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