Journal of applied physiology
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Tidal volumes used in high-frequency ventilation (HFV) may be smaller than anatomic dead space, but since gas exchange does take place, physiological dead space (VD) must be smaller than tidal volume (VT). We quantified changes in VD in three dogs at constant alveolar ventilation using the Bohr equation as VT was varied from 3 to 15 ml/kg and frequency (f) from 0.2 to 8 Hz, ranges that include normal as well as HFV. ⋯ At tidal volumes less than 7 ml/kg, the data deviated substantially from the conventional alveolar ventilation equation [f(VT - VD) = constant] but fit well a model derived previously for HFV. This model predicts that gas exchange with volumes smaller than dead space should vary approximately as the product of f and VT2.
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Although esophageal pressures have been substituted for direct pleural pressure measurement in humans, we have investigated the validity of this approach under circumstances when left and right pleural pressures are not equal. Esophageal and bilateral pleural pressures in awake sheep were compared by using matched balloon catheters in close proximity. In standing sheep, both end-expiratory pressures and inspiratory pressure swings were similar in all three catheter systems. ⋯ In the lateral decubitus position, positive end-expiratory pleural pressures were consistently observed. This was believed to be due to a combination of contraction of expiratory muscles, rapid respiratory rate resulting in insufficient expiratory time to reach an equilibrium pressure, and increased airways resistance resulting from compression of the dependent lung by the abdominal viscera. A single study in a paralyzed ventilated sheep showed less positive expiratory pressures, which were further reduced to zero or less when the respiratory rate was slowed to 10 breaths/min.
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The modulatory role of endogenous opiates on the Hering -Breuer inflation reflex was examined in 11 newborn kittens, aged 10-31 days, during active and quite sleep. The Hering -Breuer apnea duration was significantly shortened by naloxone (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally; P less than 0.05). ⋯ Hering -Breuer apnea is a result of the inspiratory inhibition and expiratory excitation of medullary neurons in response to lung stretch; the apnea is terminated by the opposing influences of chemoreceptors, which respond to hypercapnia and hypoxia. The results suggest that opioid influences on the Hering -Breuer reflex are due to an opioid modulation of the carotid body discharge in hypoxia, or of its central integration, and that sleep state is not implicated in such modulation in kittens.
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Comparative Study
Effects and mechanism of action of terbutaline on diaphragmatic contractility and fatigue.
We studied the effects of intravenously administered terbutaline on diaphragmatic force and fatigue during electrical stimulation of the diaphragm in 17 anesthetized dogs. The diaphragm was stimulated indirectly through the phrenic nerves with electrodes placed around the fifth roots and directly with electrodes surgically implanted in the abdominal side of each hemidiaphragm. Transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) during direct or indirect supramaximal 2-s stimulation applied over a frequency range of 10-100 Hz was measured with balloon catheters during tracheal occlusion at functional residual capacity. ⋯ At the end of the fatigue procedure Pdi decreased by 50 +/- 5 and 30 +/- 8% of control values at 10 and 100 Hz, respectively, for either direct or indirect stimulation. The decrease in Pdi for low frequencies of stimulation (10 and 20 Hz) lasted 100 +/- 18 min, whereas it lasted only 40 +/- 10 min for the high frequencies (50 and 100 Hz). When terbutaline (0.5 mg) was administered after the fatiguing procedure, Pdi increased within 15 min by 20 +/- 4% at 10 Hz and by 12 +/- 3% at 100 Hz for either direct or indirect stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Comparative Study
Instantaneous venous return curves in an intact canine preparation.
The relationship between right atrial pressure (Pra) and venous return describes a venous return curve. Because changes in venous return and right ventricular stroke volume (SVRV) are similar during small tidal volume (VT) breathing, we compared the relationship of SVRV and Pra during positive-pressure ventilation (VT less than 10 ml/kg) in 17 pentobarbital-anesthetized, closed-chest, canine preparations. The SVRV-Pra relationship describes a straight line with a negative slope and a positive mean systemic pressure (Pms)-zero flow intercept (instantaneous Pms). ⋯ Vascular compliance determined by adding and removing blood from the intravascular space displays a curvilinear hysteresis. The instantaneous venous return curve is affected by intravascular blood volume, vasomotor tone, and resistance to venous return. The relationship between SVRV and Pra during small VT breathing define instantaneous venous return curves similar to those described using right-heart bypass preparations.