Maintenance of respiratory rhythm-generation by vascular perfusion with physiological saline in the isolated head of the carp

Pontine influences on respiratory control in ectothermic and heterothermic vertebrates

Respiratory rhythm generators appear both evolutionarily and developmentally as paired segmental rhythm generators in the reticular formation, associated with the motor nuclei of cranial nerves V, VII, IX, X, and XII. Those associated with the Vth and VIIth motor nuclei are "pontine" in origin and in fishes that employ a buccal suction/force pump for breathing the primary pair of respiratory rhythm generators are associated with the trigeminal nuclei. In amphibians, while the basic respiratory pump remains the same, the dominant site of respiratory rhythm generation has been assumed by the facial, glossopharyngeal and vagal motor nuclei. In reptiles, birds and mammals, in general there is a switch to an aspiration pump driven by thoraco-lumbar muscles innervated by spinal nerves. In these groups, the critical sites necessary for respiratory rhythmogenesis now sit near the ponto-medullary border, in the parafacial region (which may underlie expiratory-dominated, intercostal-abdominal breathing in non-mammalian tetrapods) and in a more caudal region, the preBotzinger complex (which may underlie inspiratory-dominated diaphragmatic breathing in mammals).

Effects of afferent input on the breathing pattern continuum in the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

This study used a decerebrate and artificially-ventilated preparation to examine the roles of various afferent inputs in breathing pattern formation in the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). Three general breathing patterns were observed: (1) regular breathing; (2) frequency cycling and (3) episodic breathing. Under normoxic, normocapnic conditions, 50% of control fish exhibited regular continuous breathing and 50% exhibited frequency cycling. Denervation of the gills and oro-branchial cavity promoted frequency cycling. Central denervation of the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves produced episodic breathing. Regardless of the denervation state, hyperoxia produced either frequency cycling or episodic breathing while hypoxia and hypercarbia shifted the pattern to frequency cycling and continuous breathing. We suggest that these breathing patterns represent a continuum from continuous to episodic breathing with waxing and waning occupying an intermediate stage. The data further suggest that breathing pattern is influenced by both specific afferent input from chemoreceptors and generalised afferent input while chemoreceptors specific for producing changes in breathing pattern may exist in fish.

Branchial innervation

Inspection of the dorsal end of fish gills reveals an impressive set of nerve trunks, connecting the gills to the brain. These trunks are branches of cranial nerves VII (the facial) and especially IX (the glossopharyngeal) and X (the vagus). The nerve trunks carry a variety of nervous pathways to and from the gills. A substantial fraction of the nerves running in the branchial trunks carry afferent (sensory) information from receptors within the gills. There are also efferent (motor) pathways, which control muscles within the gills, blood flow patterns and possibly secretory functions. Undertaking a more careful survey of the gills, it becomes evident that the arrangement of the microanatomy (particularly the blood vessels) and its innervation are strikingly complex. The complexity not only reflects the many functions of the gills but also illustrates that the control of blood flow patterns in the gills is of crucial importance in modifying the efficiency of its chief functions: gas transfer and salt balance. The "respiratory-osmoregulatory compromise" is maintained by minimizing the blood/water exchange (functional surface area of the gills) to a level where excessive water loss (marine teleosts) or gain (freshwater teleosts) is kept low while ensuring sufficient gas exchange. This review describes the arrangement and mechanisms of known nervous pathways, both afferent and efferent, of fish (notably teleosts) gills. Emphasis is placed primarily on the autonomic nervous system and mechanisms of blood flow control, together with an outline of the afferent (sensory) pathways of the gill arches.

Extrabranchial chemoreceptors involved in respiratory reflexes in the neotropical fishColossoma macropomum(the tambaqui)

In a previous study, complete denervation of the gills in the tambaqui Colossoma macropomum did not eliminate the increase in breathing amplitude seen during exposure of this species to hypoxia. The present study was designed to examine other sites of putative O2-sensitive receptors that could be involved in this reflex action. Superfusion of the exposed brain of decerebrate, spinalectomized fish did not reveal the presence of central chemoreceptors responsive to hyperoxic, hypoxic, hypercarbic,acidic or alkaline solutions. Subsequent central transection of cranial nerve IX and X, removing not only all innervation of the gills but also sensory input from the lateral-line, cardiac and visceral branches of the vagus nerve,did not eliminate the increase in breathing amplitude that remained following peripheral gill denervation alone. Administration of exogenous catecholamines(10 and 100 nmol kg-1 adrenaline) to fish with intact brains and minimal surgical preparation reduced both respiratory frequency and amplitude,suggesting that humoral release of adrenaline also could not be responsible for the increase in breathing amplitude that remained following gill denervation. Denervation of the mandibular branches of cranial nerve V and the opercular and palatine branches of cranial nerve VII in gill-denervated fish(either peripheral gill denervation or central section of cranial nerves IX and X), however, did eliminate the response. Thus, our data suggest that hypoxic and hyperoxic ventilatory responses as well as ventilatory responses to internal and external injections of NaCN in the tambaqui arise from O2-sensitive receptors in the orobranchial cavity innervated by cranial nerves V and VII and O2-sensitive receptors on the gills innervated by cranial nerves IX and X.

Our results also revealed the presence of receptors in the gills that account for all of the increase in ventilation amplitude and part of the increase in ventilation frequency during hyperoxic hypercarbia, a group or groups of receptors, which may be external to the orobranchial cavity (but not in the central nervous system), that contribute to the increase in ventilation frequency seen in response to hyperoxic hypercarbia and the possible presence of CO2-sensitive receptors that inhibit ventilation frequency,possibly in the olfactory epithelium.

Branchial receptors and cardiorespiratory reflexes in a neotropical fish, the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

This study examined the location and physiological roles of branchial chemoreceptors involved in the cardiorespiratory responses to hypoxia and hypercarbia in a neotropical fish that exhibits aquatic surface respiration, the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). Fish were exposed to abrupt progressive environmental hypoxia (18. 6–1.3 kPa water P(O2)) and hypercarbia (water equilibrated with 5 % CO(2) in air, which lowered the water pH from 7.0 to 5.0). They were also subjected to injections of NaCN into the ventral aorta (to stimulate receptors monitoring the blood) and buccal cavity (to stimulate receptors monitoring the respiratory water). All tests were performed before and after selective denervation of branchial branches of cranial nerves IX and X to the gill arches. The data suggest that the O(2) receptors eliciting reflex bradycardia and increases in breathing frequency are situated on all gill arches and sense changes in both the blood and respiratory water and that the O(2) receptors triggering the elevation in systemic vascular resistance, breathing amplitude, swelling of the inferior lip and that induce aquatic surface respiration during hypoxia are extrabranchial, although branchial receptors also contribute to the latter two responses. Hypercarbia also produced bradycardia and increases in breathing frequency, as well as hypertension, and, while the data suggest that there may be receptors uniquely sensitive to changes in CO(2)/pH involved in cardiorespiratory control, this is based on quantitative rather than qualitative differences in receptor responses. These data reveal yet another novel combination for the distribution of cardiorespiratory chemoreceptors in fish from which teleologically satisfying trends have yet to emerge.

Cardiovascular and respiratory reflexes: the tropical fish, traira (Hoplias malabaricus) O2 chemoresponses

To determine the location and distribution of chemoreceptors involved in the cardiovascular and respiratory responses to hypoxia of traira (Hoplias malabaricus), we measured heart rate, arterial blood pressure, ventilation frequency and amplitude of opercular movements during exposure to hypoxia and application of NaCN to either water bathing the gills (external) or the ventral aortic blood (internal). This was done before and after selective denervation of branchial branches of the IXth and Xth cranial nerves to various gill arches. The data suggest that hypoxia elicits a bradycardia that arises from internal receptors located in the first gill arch. They also indicate the presence of branchial and extra branchial O2-chemoreceptors that reflexively elevate systemic vascular resistance during hypoxia. Hypoxia induced increases in ventilation frequency arose primarily from external receptors located exclusively within the gills while increases in breathing amplitude also involved extra branchial receptors. In addition, the data suggest there are O2 sensitive chemoreceptors located in the first gill arch that attenuate the respiratory responses.

The effects of extreme hemodilutions on the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow, electroencephalogram and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in the dog

The effects of profound (hematocrit value, Ht 20%) and extreme (Ht 5%) hemodilutions on the relationship between the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the cerebral blood flow (CBF) were studied in pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs. A regression line was found between the CBF and Ht values during normotensive hemodilution (MAP 100 torr): CBF (ml/100g X min) = -98.9 log Ht (%) + 195.5 (p less than 0.001). The CBF was increased by hemodilution, but the range of its autoregulation was narrowed, suggesting a progressive susceptibility of CBF to blood pressure with hemodilution. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was not significantly changed by hemodilution within the range of the CBF autoregulation, below which it became slowed. In contrast, the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRo2) was decreased by hemodilution even within the range of the CBF autoregulation, while there were no significant differences in CMRo2 values between MAPs of 100 and 40 torr. Thus, the brain function in terms of the EEG seemed to correlate more with the autoregulatory mechanism of the CBF than with the CMRo2 value in the hemodiluted states.