Abstract
A century ago, Haldane and Priestley demonstrated the exquisite sensitivity of ventilation (VE) to small variations in alveolar PCO2 6. This belief in the primacy of CO2 over O2 in the regulation of V E has persisted through into modern physiology, for example, in his textbook on Respiratory Physiology15, West writes, “The most important factor in the control of ventilation under normal conditions is the PCO2 of the arterial blood.” Indeed, a reasonable estimate is that ventilation is 30 fold more sensitive to acute variations in Pco2 compared with Po2 for blood gas tensions around sea level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Astrom, K. J. & Wittenmark, B.,1995. Adaptive Control. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Bellville, J. W., Whipp, B. J., Kaufman, R. D., Swanson, G. D., Aqleh, K. A. & Wiberg, D. M., 1979. Central and peripheral chemoreflex loop gain in normal and carotid body-resected subjects. Journal of Applied Physiology 46, 843–853.
Chemiack, N. S., 1999. Control of breathing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In M. D. Altose & Y. Kawakami (Eds.), Control of Breathing in Health and Disease (pp. 423–437). New York: Marcel Dekker.
Fatemian, M., Dahan, A., Meinesz, S., Mey, A. v. d. & Robbins, P. A., 2000a. Modelling the ventilatory response to variations in end-tidal PCO2 in patients who have undergone bilateral carotid body resection. in: Frontiers in Modeling and Control of Breathing: Integration at Molecular, Cellular and Systems Levels, edited by C.-S. Poon and H. Kazemi (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, New York, 2001), this volume.
Fatemian, M., Kim, D. Y., Poulin, M. J. & Robbins, P. A., 2000b. Long-haul flights may induce respiratory changes similar to ventilatory acclimatisation to altitude. in: Frontiers in Modeling and Control of Breathing: Integration at Molecular, Cellular and Systems Levels, edited by C.-S. Poon and H. Kazemi (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, New York, 2001), this volume.
Haldane, J. S. & Priestley, J. G., 1905. The regulation of the lung-ventilation. Journal of Physiology 32, 225–266.
Howard, L. S. G. E. & Robbins, P. A., 1995. Ventilatory response to 8 h of isocapnic and poikilocapnic hypoxia in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology 78, 1092–1097.
Michel, C. C. & Milledge, J. S., 1963. Respiratory regulation in man during acclimatisation to high altitude. Journal of Physiology 168, 631–643.
Pan, L. G., Forster, H. V., Martino, P., Strecker, P. J., Beales, J., Serra, A., Lowry, T. F., Forster, M. M. & Forster, A. L., 1998. Important role of carotid afferents in control of breathing. Journal of Applied Physiology 85, 1299–1306.
Poon, C.-S. & Siniaia, M. S., 2000. Plasticity of cardiorespiratory neural processing: classification and computational functions. Respiration Physiology 122, 83–109.
Rahn, H. & Otis, A. B., 1949. Man’s respiratory response during and after acclimatization to high altitude. American Journal of Physiology 157, 445–462.
Rahn, H., Stroud, R. C., Tenney, S. M. & Mithoefer, J. C., 1953. Adaptation to high altitude: respiratory response to CO2 and O2. Journal of Applied Physiology 6, 158–162.
Ren, X., Fatemian, M. & Robbins, P. A., 2000. Changes in respiratory control in humans induced by 8 h of hyperoxia. Journal of Applied Physiology 89, 655–662.
Tansley, J. G., Fatemian, M., Howard, L. S. G. E., Poulin, M. J. & Robbins, P. A., 1998. Changes in respiratory control during and after 48 h of isocapnic and poikilocapnic hypoxia in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology 85, 2125–2134.
West, J. B., 2000. Respiratory Physiology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Robbins, P.A. (2001). Possible Mechanisms That May Determine the Set Point and Sensitivities of the Chemoreflexes. In: Poon, CS., Kazemi, H. (eds) Frontiers in Modeling and Control of Breathing. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 499. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1375-9_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1375-9_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5522-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1375-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive