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Biomedical subjects

M Vízek

Publications and source records attributed to M Vízek.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Fixed breathing frequency decreases end-tidal PCO2 in humans.

We tested the effect of a fixed breathing frequency on the partial pressure of CO2 in the end-tidal air (PETCO2) in resting healthy subjects. In the first experiment, three different rates of breathing were dictated: the same frequency of breathing as the subject's control one (1f), a double frequency (2f), and half of the control frequency (0.5f). 10 min dictate of 1f and 2f induced a decrease of PETCO2. The dictate of 0.5f had no significant effect on PETCO2. In the second experiment, 1f was dictated for 30 min, inducing a decrease of PETCO2 throughout the duration of the dictate. These results demonstrate that fixing the breathing frequency by the dictate affects the chemostatic control of ventilation.

Adult

Pulmonary hypertension in rats with papain emphysema.

Lung emphysema was produced in 80 rats by tracheal chronic constriction and repeated instillations of 0.1% papain solution intratracheally. 17 animals survived 90 days of the experiment; a complete examination was performed on 14 experimental and 11 control animals. 9 rats of the experimental group had pulmonary hypertension, in 5 other rats the pulmonary arterial blood pressure was not different from that in the controls. The experimental animals with hypertension had arterial hypoxemia and increased weight of the right ventricle. All experimental rats (with and without pulmonary hypertension) had increased air spaces in the lung and thickened media of distal pulmonary vessels. After breathing 100% oxygen for 20 min, the pulmonary arterial blood pressure in animals with pulmonary hypertension decreased but did not reach the control level. The decrease of the mean pulmonary arterial blood pressure after oxygen breathing correlated well with the initial level of pulmonary hypertension and with the degree of hypoxemia during air breathing.

Animals

Relative organ blood flow in rats exposed to intermittent high altitude hypoxia.

Circulating blood volume, cardiac output and relative organ perfusion changes were studied, using the Sapirstein method of 86RB tissue uptake, in male 75-day-old rats exposed to intermittent high altitude hypoxia (gradually up to 7000 m, 4 h daily, 5 days a week; the total number of exposures was 24). Intermittent hypobaric exposure caused a significant rise of the erythrocyte volume, whereas the plasma volume remained unchanged. The relative perfusion of the left and particularly of the right ventricular myocardium, as well as of the spleen, liver, lung, small intestine and skeletal muscle, was significantly higher. The cardiac output determined in other experimental animals similarly treated was significantly higher after 24 exposures to the intermittent high altitude hypoxia. We suggest that these changes are triggered by tissue hypoxia and a greater blood flow demand.

Adaptation, Physiological

Effect of anaesthesia on the pattern of breathing.

The pattern of breathing of male rats was studied after stimulating respiration with carbon dioxide at different levels of general anaesthesia. Anaesthesia was induced by the inhalation of halothane or by the i.p. injection of urethane. Ventilation values were measured in intubated rats in body plethysmograph. It was found that a linear relationship between minute ventilation and tidal volume was maintained during the decrease of minute ventilation due to deepening of anaesthesia. The slope of the relationship after stimulating respiration with carbon dioxide also diminished during deeper anaesthesia. The duration of inspiration did not alter significantly, despite marked changes in tidal volume. Tidal volume correlated with the duration of expiration at different anaesthesia levels. In vagotomized rats, the duration of expiration shortened as ventilation was depressed by deepening anaesthesia.

Anesthesia, Inhalation

Inflation reflex in the rat.

The Breuer-Hering inflation reflex [BHIR] was elicited in conscious and anaesthetized rats by inflating the lungs with constant pressures of 5--20 cm H2O. The reflex was elicited well in conscious animals, but even with the maximum stimulus [inflation of 20 cm H2O, corresponding to about 4.5-fold the tidal volume] the duration of apnoea did not exceed 4 control respiration cycles. In anaesthetized animals, the same stimulus let to apnoea lasting 180--400 control respiration cycles on the average, according to the type and depth of general anaesthesia. The duration of apnoea in occlusion of the air passages in the expiratory position increased with the depth of anaesthesia, while in occlusion of the air passages at the peak of inspiration it was shortened. Stimulation of chemoreceptors [inhalation of a mixture 4% CO2 in O2 or of 8% O2 in N2] did not influence the elicitability or duration of the BHIR, nor did cooling the rats to 28 degrees C or heating them to 38 degrees C. The mean respiration frequency was 98 c/min in unanaesthetized rats, 96 c/min in urethane anaesthesis and 79--48 c/min in halothane anaesthesia, according to the depth of anaesthesia. Bilateral cervical vagotomy reduced mean respiration frequency to 35.6 c/min in conscious rats and to 31 c/min in urethane-anaesthetized animals. The results indicate the existence of species-related differences between basic regulatory mechanisms in the rat and certain other mammals.

Animals

Participation of the Breuer-Hering inflation reflex in regulation of respiration frequency in anaesthetized rats.

The respiration frequency and Breuer-Hering inflation reflex (BHIR) values were compared in anaesthetized rats after unilateral vagotomy. Nos significant differences were found in the decrease in respiration frequency after transection of the right of left vagus and there were no differences in BHIR values in correlation to conduction by the right or left vagus. With unilateral vagotomy and an inflation pressure of 20 cm H20 the BHIR values fell to about one fourth of the control values. Progressive cooling of the contralateral vagus led at 8-10 degrees C to a non-significant decrease in respiration frequency to 87% of the initial value; in this state the BHIR could not be elicited. Further cooling of the vagus to 0 degrees C reduced respiration frequency to the same values as in bilateral vagotomy. The discrepancy between the mild decrease in respiration frequency and simultaneous disappearance of the BHIR shows that changes in respiration frequency in anaesthetized rats are not directly correlated to the presence of the BHIR.

Anesthesia

Lung function in acute paraquat intoxication.

Functional and morphological examination of the lungs was performed in rats 48 hours after intratracheal injection of 0.5 mg/kg of the herbicide paraquat. Pronounced tachypnoea was observed (235+/-20 c/min), which also persisted under urethane anaesthesia (210+/-18 c/min). In control rats the mean breathing rate was 115+/-11 and 90+/-9 c/min in wake and anaesthetized rats respectively. The rate of breathing decreased to comparable values in experimental and control rats after bilateral cervical vagotomy. The functional residual lung capacity was significantly increased in experimental rats. After vagotomy also this increase of functional residual capacity became normalized. Histologically the disease was characterized by focal formation of hyaline membranes and oedema with occasional haemorrhages and signs of inflammation. The significant role fo vagal function in lung pathology is demonstrated.

Animals