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The effect of carbon dioxide in the airways and alveoli on ventilation; a vagal reflex studied in the dog
Author(s) -
Bartoli A.,
Cross Brenda A.,
Guz A.,
Jain S. K.,
Noble M. I. M.,
Trenchard Diana W.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.1974.sp010601
Subject(s) - anesthesia , vagotomy , reflex , respiratory system , chloralose , ventilation (architecture) , vagovagal reflex , respiration , respiratory rate , carbon dioxide , medicine , tidal volume , chemistry , heart rate , blood pressure , anatomy , mechanical engineering , organic chemistry , engineering
1. The inhalation of CO 2 produces a tachypnoea only in the presence of intact vagus nerves; the present study was designed to examine the mechanism of this phenomenon in the dog. 2. Closed‐chest cardiopulmonary bypass was established in dogs weighing 16–24 kg, anaesthetized with chloralose. When the ‘bypass’ was established pulmonary blood flow ceased, P A, CO2 was reduced and the respiratory rate slowed. 3‐10% CO 2 in O 2 could then be inhaled without change in the level of P a, CO2 set at the oxygenator. 3. The addition of CO 2 in these concentrations to the inspired oxygen resulted in an increase in respiratory frequency, maximal at the first breath and sustained for the 1 min period of exposure. The increase in respiratory frequency was due to a shortening of expiratory duration. Inspiratory duration did not change. The response was absent after vagotomy. 4. Inert gases in O 2 , given as a control, had no effect on breathing. 5. The effect of raising P a, CO2 (by increasing the concentration of CO 2 in the gas equilibrating the blood in the oxygenator), was primarily to increase tidal volume. 6. The ventilatory effect of inspiring CO 2 /O 2 mixtures was shown to be additive to the effect of raising P a, CO2 . 7. These experiments show that an afferent vagal reflex originating from the lungs causes tachypnoea, when a dog, on ‘bypass’, inhales low concentrations of CO 2 in O 2 .