Abstract
Neural plasticity is defined as a persistent change in the morphology and/or function based on prior experiences. Plasticity is well evident when the triggering experience occurs early in life, but in the case of respiratory control plasticity, it also can be triggered in adult life. We have combined a 10 days postnatal hypoxic (PH) (0–10 days of age;11% O2) and a 15 days intermittent hypoxia (IH) exposures in the adulthood (90–105 days of age; 5% O2, 40 s/20% O2, 80 s; 8 h/day) to test if early PH interacts with IH of the adulthood to generate detrimental plastic changes. After recording of ventilatory parameters, the brains were studied immunocytochemically for localization of the organization pattern of non-phosphorylated subunit of neurofilament H (NFH) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression in the nucleus tractus solitarius (Sol) and caudal (CVL) and rostral ventrolateral reticular (RVL) nuclei, areas related to central cardio-respiratory regulation. In comparison to control, PH male rats (but not females) at 1 month of age hyperventilated at rest, in response to moderate hypoxia (12% O2) and 5% CO2, the effect being due to increased tidal volume. At 3.5 months sex differences in ventilation disappeared and it was indistinguishable between control and PH. IH tended to decrease ventilation in both control (C) and PH animals. PH augmented PENH values in air and in hypoxic conditions when compared with C group. IH in both groups, tended to decrease the PENH value, being statistically different in PH+IH. Results also show an increment of disorganization of NFH-positive labeled structures at the level of Sol and CVL/RVL nuclei in PH, IH and HP+HI groups. PH rats showed differences in the number of TH-positive neurons at the level of CVL/RVL nuclei, which was increased in the PH and PH+IH groups with respect to C one. In conclusion, PH alters the central morpho-physiological organization and the catecholaminergic components of cardio-respiratory nuclei, whose effects were enhanced after a period of IH in the adulthood.
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
Adams MB, Brown RE, Gibson C, Coulter CL, McMillen IC (2001) Tyrosine hydroxylase protein content in the medulla oblongata of the foetal sheep brain increases in response to acute but not chronic hypoxia. Neurosci Lett 316(2):63–66
Bao G, Metreveli N, Li R, Taylor A, Fletcher EC (1997) Blood pressure response to chronic episodic hypoxia: role of the sympathetic nervous system. J Appl Physiol 83:95–101
Braga VA, Soriano RN, Machado BH (2006) Sympathoexcitatory response to peripheral chemoreflex activation is enhanced in juvenile rats exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxia. Exp Physiol 91:1025–1031
Carden MJ, Trojanowski JQ, Schlaepfer WW, Lee VM (1987) Two-stage expression of neurofilament polypeptides during rat neurogenesis with early establishment of adult phosphorylation patterns. J Neurosci 7(11):3489–3504
Gonzalez C, Almaraz L, Obeso A, Rigual R (1994) Carotid body chemoreceptors: from natural stimuli to sensory discharges. Physiol Rev 74(4):829–898
Gonzalez-Martín MC, Vega-Agapito MV, Conde S, Castañeda J, Bustamante R, Olea E, Perez-Vizcaino F, Gonzalez C, Obeso A (2011) Carotid body function and ventilatory responses in intermittent hypoxia. Evidence for anomalous brainstem integration of arterial chemoreceptor input. J Cell Physiol 226(8):1961–1969
Gozal E, Sachleben LR Jr, Rane MJ, Vega C, Gozal D (2005) Mild sustained and intermittent hypoxia induce apoptosis in PC-12 cells via different mechanisms. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 288(3):C535–C542
Guyenet PG (2006) The sympathetic control of blood pressure. Nat Rev Neurosci 7(5):335–346
Kline DD (2010) Chronic intermittent hypoxia affects integration of sensory input by neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarii. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 174:29–36
Kline DD, King TL, Austgen JR, Heesch CM, Hasser EM (2010) Sensory afferent and hypoxia-mediated activation of nucleus tractus solitarius neurons that project to the rostral ventrolateral medulla. Neuroscience 167(2):510–527
Koutcherov Y, Mai JK, Ashwell KW, Paxinos G (2000) Organization of the human paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. J Comp Neurol 423(2):299–318
Kumar GK, Rai V, Sharma SD, Ramakrishnan DP, Peng YJ, Souvannakitti D, Prabhakar NR (2006) Chronic intermittent hypoxia induces hypoxia-evoked catecholamine efflux in adult rat adrenal medulla via oxidative stress. J Physiol 575:229–239
Mahamed S, Mitchell GS (2007) Is there a link between intermittent hypoxia-induced respiratory plasticity and obstructive sleep apnoea? Exp Physiol 92(1):27–37
Pasaro R, Ribas-Salgueiro JL, Matarredona ER, Sarmiento M, Ribas J (2009) Systemic inhibition of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger type 3 in intact rats activates brainstem respiratory regions. Adv Exp Med Biol 648:395–401
Paxinos G, Watson C (1997) The rat brain in stereotaxic coordinates, 3rd edn. Academic, Sydney
Perrot R, Berges R, Bocquet A, Eyer J (2008) Review of the multiple aspects of neurofilament functions, and their possible contribution to neurodegeneration. Mol Neurobiol 38(1):27–65
Pilowsky PM, Jiang C, Lipski J (1990) An intracellular study of respiratory neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the rat and their relationship to catecholamine-containing neurons. J Comp Neurol 301:604–617
Prabhakar NR, Dick TE, Nanduri J, Kumar GK (2007) Systemic, cellular and molecular analysis of chemoreflex-mediated sympathoexcitation by chronic intermittent hypoxia. Exp Physiol 92(1):39–44
Roux JC, Pequignot JM, Dumas S, Pascual O, Ghilini G, Pequignot J, Mallet J, Denavit-Saubié M (2000) O2-sensing after carotid chemodenervation: hypoxic ventilatory responsiveness and upregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA in brainstem catecholaminergic cells. Eur J Neurosci 12(9):3181–3190
Zoccal DB, Paton JF, Machado BH (2009) Do changes in the coupling between respiratory and sympathetic activities contribute to neurogenic hypertension? Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 36(12):1188–1196
Acknowledgements
Supported by Grants BFU2007-61848 (DGICYT), CIBER CB06/06/0050 (ISCiii), and P08-CVI-03934 and P09-CVI-4617 (Junta de Andalucía). Thanks to the technical assistance of Mª Angeles Bueso and Elena Gonzalez.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
Olea, E., Gaytan, S.P., Obeso, A., Gonzalez, C., Pasaro, R. (2012). Interactions Between Postnatal Sustained Hypoxia and Intermittent Hypoxia in the Adulthood to Alter Brainstem Structures and Respiratory Function. In: Nurse, C., Gonzalez, C., Peers, C., Prabhakar, N. (eds) Arterial Chemoreception. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 758. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4584-1_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4584-1_31
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4583-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4584-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)