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Prenatal nicotine and respiratory long term facilitation in neonatal rats
Author(s) -
Fuller David D,
Doperalski Nicholas J,
Dougherty Brendan J,
Sandhu Milap,
Reynolds Carie,
Hayward Linda F
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.955.12
Subject(s) - saline , tidal volume , medicine , nicotine , ventilation (architecture) , respiratory system , hypoxia (environmental) , plethysmograph , anesthesia , analysis of variance , endocrinology , intermittent hypoxia , respiratory minute volume , respiratory rate , serotonergic , serotonin , chemistry , heart rate , receptor , oxygen , mechanical engineering , obstructive sleep apnea , organic chemistry , blood pressure , engineering
Prenatal nicotine (PN) exposure alters the control of breathing in neonatal rats and the development of serotonergic neurons. Long term facilitation (LTF) is a long‐lasting, serotonin dependent increase in respiratory motor output that occurs in neonates and adults following intermittent hypoxia (IH). In ongoing studies, we are examining the impact of PN on ventilatory LTF in neonatal rats. Dams were implanted with an alzet miniosmotic pump to deliver nicotine (6 mg/kg per day) or saline during pregnancy. Barometric plethysmography was used to record ventilation in unanesthetized rat pups. Rats were exposed to a baseline period (21% O 2 ) and then ten 5‐min bouts of hypoxia (5% O 2 ) followed by a return to baseline conditions. Data recorded following IH were normalized to pre‐hypoxia baseline values. At post‐natal days 15–17, PN rats had a reduced inspiratory tidal volume (p=0.036 vs . saline, 2‐way RM ANOVA) and tended to have increased breathing frequency (p=0.215 vs . saline) over the 30 min period following IH. At 30 min post‐IH, tidal volume was larger than pre‐IH baseline values in saline (p=0.043) but not PN rats (p=0.767). Body weight was not different between PN (44±3 g) and saline rats (42±2 g). These preliminary results (n=4 per group) indicate that expression of LTF in neonatal rats is modulated by exposure to PN. Supported by the Florida Dept. of Health.