Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1995 Dec 1;489(Pt 2):579–591. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1995.sp021074

The functional expression of a pontine pneumotaxic centre in neonatal rats.

M L Fung 1, W M St John 1
PMCID: PMC1156781  PMID: 8847649

Abstract

1. Our purpose was to determine whether a pneumotaxic centre could be localized to the rostral pons in newborn rats. We recorded efferent activity of the phrenic nerve in decerebrate, paralysed, vagotomized and ventilated rats, whose age varied from the day of birth to 22 days. 2. The rostral pontine tegmentum was ablated by aspiration and electrolytic lesions. Neuronal activities were blocked by microinjections of the glutamate antagonist MK-801 and were destroyed by the neurotoxins kainic acid and domoic acid. 3. Unilateral ablation or lesions of the pontine tegmentum caused a significant prolongation of the duration of the phrenic burst in animals of all ages. This duration increased further following contralateral destruction and apneusis was established. The period between phrenic bursts increased in most rats whereas peak phrenic height was not consistently altered. 4. Similar changes to those following physical ablations or lesions were recorded after microinjections of MK-801 or neurotoxins. 5. A common region of ablation, lesion and microinjection was the parabrachialis and Köllicker-Fuse nucleus. 6. Exposure to anoxia resulted in an alteration from apnoeusis to gasping. 7. We conclude that from the day of birth, rostral pontine pneumotaxic mechanisms play a significant role in the definition of eupnoea. Moreover, from the day of birth, rats can exhibit the classical ventilatory patterns of eupnoea, apneusis and gasping.

Full text

PDF
579

Images in this article

583Figure 5
on p.583
585Figure 7
on p.585
589Figure 11
on p.589

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bertrand F., Hugelin A. Respiratory synchronizing function of nucleus parabrachialis medialis: pneumotaxic mechanisms. J Neurophysiol. 1971 Mar;34(2):189–207. doi: 10.1152/jn.1971.34.2.189. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bertrand F., Hugelin A., Vibert J. F. A stereologic model of pneumotaxic oscillator based on spatial and temporal distributions of neuronal bursts. J Neurophysiol. 1974 Jan;37(1):91–107. doi: 10.1152/jn.1974.37.1.91. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bianchi A. L., St John W. M. Medullary axonal projections of respiratory neurons of pontile pneumotaxic center. Respir Physiol. 1982 Jun;48(3):357–373. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(82)90039-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brockhaus J., Ballanyi K., Smith J. C., Richter D. W. Microenvironment of respiratory neurons in the in vitro brainstem-spinal cord of neonatal rats. J Physiol. 1993 Mar;462:421–445. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1993.sp019562. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cohen M. I. Switching of the respiratory phases and evoked phrenic responses produced by rostral pontine electrical stimulation. J Physiol. 1971 Aug;217(1):133–158. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009563. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Denavit-Saubié M., Riche D., Champagnat J., Velluti J. C. Functional and morphological consequences of kainic acid microinjections into a pontine respiratory area of the cat. Neuroscience. 1980;5(9):1609–1620. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(80)90025-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duron B., Marlot D. Nervous control of breathing during postnatal development in the kitten. Sleep. 1980;3(3-4):323–330. doi: 10.1093/sleep/3.3-4.323. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Farber J. P. Effects on breathing of rostral pons glutamate injection during opossum development. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1990 Jul;69(1):189–195. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1990.69.1.189. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fung M. L., St John W. M. Separation of multiple functions in ventilatory control of pneumotaxic mechanisms. Respir Physiol. 1994 Apr;96(1):83–98. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(94)90108-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fung M. L., Wang W., St John W. M. Involvement of pontile NMDA receptors in inspiratory termination in rat. Respir Physiol. 1994 May;96(2-3):177–188. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(94)90125-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fung M. L., Wang W., St John W. M. Medullary loci critical for expression of gasping in adult rats. J Physiol. 1994 Nov 1;480(Pt 3):597–611. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1994.sp020387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Greer J. J., Smith J. C., Feldman J. L. Role of excitatory amino acids in the generation and transmission of respiratory drive in neonatal rat. J Physiol. 1991 Jun;437:727–749. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1991.sp018622. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ling L., Karius D. R., Speck D. F. Role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the pontine pneumotaxic mechanism in the cat. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1994 Mar;76(3):1138–1143. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1994.76.3.1138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lumsden T. Observations on the respiratory centres in the cat. J Physiol. 1923 Mar 21;57(3-4):153–160. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1923.sp002052. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Monteau R., Errchidi S., Gauthier P., Hilaire G., Rega P. Pneumotaxic centre and apneustic breathing: interspecies differences between rat and cat. Neurosci Lett. 1989 May 8;99(3):311–316. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(89)90465-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Morrison S. F., Cravo S. L., Wilfehrt H. M. Pontine lesions produce apneusis in the rat. Brain Res. 1994 Jul 25;652(1):83–86. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(94)90320-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Okada Y., Mückenhoff K., Holtermann G., Acker H., Scheid P. Depth profiles of pH and PO2 in the isolated brain stem-spinal cord of the neonatal rat. Respir Physiol. 1993 Sep;93(3):315–326. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(93)90077-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schweitzer P., Pierrefiche O., Foutz A. S., Denavit-Saubié M. Effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blockade on breathing pattern in newborn cat. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1990 Nov 1;56(2):290–293. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(90)90095-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sica A. L., Siddiqi Z. A., Pisana F. M. The effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonism on the inspiratory activities of developing animals. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1992 Feb 21;65(2):281–283. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(92)90190-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Smith J. C., Greer J. J., Liu G. S., Feldman J. L. Neural mechanisms generating respiratory pattern in mammalian brain stem-spinal cord in vitro. I. Spatiotemporal patterns of motor and medullary neuron activity. J Neurophysiol. 1990 Oct;64(4):1149–1169. doi: 10.1152/jn.1990.64.4.1149. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. St John W. M. Differential alteration by hypercapnia and hypoxia of the apneustic respiratory pattern in decerebrate cats. J Physiol. 1979 Feb;287:467–491. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012671. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. St John W. M. Influence of pulmonary inflations on discharge of pontile respiratory neurons. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1987 Dec;63(6):2231–2239. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1987.63.6.2231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Wang W., Fung M. L., St John W. M. Pontile regulation of ventilatory activity in the adult rat. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1993 Jun;74(6):2801–2811. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1993.74.6.2801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES