ISSN:
1432-2013
Keywords:
Key words Baroreceptor reflex
;
Nucleus tractus solitarii
;
Neonatal
;
Maturation
;
Cardiac vagal tone
;
Rat
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Ontogenesis of both vagal control of heart rate and the baroreceptor vagal reflex were evaluated in rats at postnatal ages (P) of 5/6, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 〉42 days anaesthetised with urethane (1.5 g/kg). Between P5/6 and P25 heart rate rose from 372 ± 12 to 448 ± 20 beats per minute and mean arterial pressure increased from 33.9 ± 3.1 to 74.59 ± 3.25 mm Hg (mean ± SEM, n = 7 and 11 respectively). Cardiac vagal tone was absent at P10 but significant at P20 (P 〈 0.05) as revealed with atropine (0.5–1 mg/kg i.v.). Baroreceptor cardiac reflex sensitivity, tested with phenylephrine (10–50 μg/kg i.v.), was attenuated significantly in P10–20 rats compared with P5/6, P25 and mature animals. In P14–17 rats stimulation of neurones in either the solitary tract or ambiguual nuclei, by microinjection of L-glutamate (100–200 pmol), evoked an atropine-sensitive bradycardia indicating a functional integrity of central and peripheral efferent pathways mediating the baroreceptor reflex. Thus, the baroreceptor vagal reflex is functional in P5/6 rats but becomes attenuated between P10–P20, which is coincident with the maturational rise in arterial pressure.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004240050418
Permalink
