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Biomedical subjects

T Chonan

Publications and source records attributed to T Chonan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effects of posture on flow-volume curves during normocapnia and hypercapnia in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

BACKGROUND: A high ratio of forced expiratory to forced inspiratory maximal flow at 50% of vital capacity (FEF50/FIF50) may identify upper airway dysfunction. Since hypercapnia increases the motor activity of airway dilating muscles its effects on the maximum expiratory and inspiratory flow-volume curves (MEIFV) in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea and in normal subjects in different postures was studied. METHODS: The effects of posture on the maximum expiratory and inspiratory flow-volume curves during the breathing of air and 7% carbon dioxide in 11 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea were compared with those in nine normal subjects. Measurements were made in the sitting, supine, and right lateral recumbent positions. Forced expiratory flow at 50% vital capacity (FEF50), forced inspiratory flow at 50% vital capacity (FIF50) and FEF50/FIF50 were determined. RESULTS: In the normal subjects FEF50, FIF50, and FEF50/FIF50 were not affected by change in posture or by breathing carbon dioxide. In the patients there was a fall in FIF50 and an increase in FEF50/FIF50 when breathing air in the supine position compared with values in the seated and lateral position. While they were breathing carbon dioxide there was a slight increase in FEF50 when patients were seated or in the lateral position compared with values during air breathing. Hypercapnia abolished the effects of posture on FEF50/FIF50. Values for FEF50/FIF50 in the supine position while they were breathing air correlated with the apnoeic index but not with other polysomnographic data. CONCLUSION: In patients with obstructive sleep apnoea the upper airway is prone to collapse during inspiration when the patient is supine, even when awake; this tendency can be reversed by breathing carbon dioxide.

Adult

Effects of pharyngeal lubrication on the opening of obstructed upper airway.

We examined the effect of electrical stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve and pharyngeal lubrication with artificial surfactant (Surfactant T-A) on the opening of obstructed upper airway in nine anesthetized supine dogs. The upper airway was isolated from the lower airway by transecting the cervical trachea. Upper airway obstruction was induced by applying constant negative pressures (5, 10, 20, and 30 cmH2O) on the rostral cut end of the trachea. Peripheral cut ends of the hypoglossal nerves were electrically stimulated by square-wave pulses at various frequencies from 10 to 30 Hz (0.2-ms duration, 5-7 V), and the critical stimulating frequency necessary for opening the obstructed upper airway was measured at each driving pressure before and after pharyngeal lubrication with artificial surfactant. The critical stimulation frequency for upper airway opening significantly increased as upper airway pressure became more negative and significantly decreased with lubrication of the upper airway. These findings suggest that greater muscle tone of the genioglossus is needed to open the occluded upper airway with larger negative intraluminal pressure and that lubrication of the pharyngeal mucosa with artificial surfactant facilitates reopening of the upper airway.

Airway Obstruction

Prostaglandin E2 inhalation increases the sensation of dyspnea during exercise.

To clarify the role of vagal afferents from the lung in the sensation of dyspnea, we examined the effects of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) inhalation on the sensation of dyspnea during exercise in eight normal male subjects. This intervention was chosen because inhaled PGE2 is known to stimulate vagal afferent receptors in the lung, in particular C-fiber endings, without a significant increase in airway resistance. After either physiologic saline or PGE2 aerosol (100 micrograms/ml) inhalation through a Bird nebulizer for 2 min, exercise tests were performed on a bicycle ergometer. The tests consisted of 3 min at rest followed by graded work loads (zero to 150 watts, 50-watt increments). Minute ventilation (VE) and respiratory rate were monitored from an expiratory line through a face mask. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) were calculated from samples of mixed expired gas. The sensation of difficulty in breathing (dyspnea) was measured on a modified Borg scale at rest and at the end of each work load. We found that although airway resistance and lung volume did not change significantly between saline and PGE2 inhalations, inhaled PGE2 significantly increased the magnitude of the dyspneic sensation when compared with inhaled saline at the same levels of work load, ventilation, and oxygen consumption. These results suggest that in addition to probable roles of motor command and chemical drive, afferent vagal activity from the lung also contributes to the sensation of dyspnea during exercise.

Adult

[Dyspnea and behavioral control].

Respiration is automatically regulated via chemo- and mechanoreceptors existing in and outside the lungs, but it is also controlled voluntarily by behavioral factors. Voluntary increase in ventilation accentuates dyspnea and the sensory intensity at a given ventilation does not differ from that of exercise-induced hyperventilation, but it is significantly smaller than that during hypercapnia or hypoxia. Voluntary constraint of ventilation augments dyspnea in proportion to the degree of constraint even under isocapnic hyperoxia, and the respiratory sensation during constrained breathing is qualitatively more discomfortable than that during hyperventilation. Changes in the level and pattern of breathing under constant levels of chemical stimuli increase respiratory sensations and the intensity of dyspnea is minimal near the spontaneous levels, which supports the hypothesis that breathing is behaviorally regulated in part to minimize dyspnea. The system of behavioral control of breathing appears to be involved in the maintenance of body homeostasis by modifying the respiratory output through respiratory sensations.

Carbon Dioxide

Sensation and control of breathing: a dynamic model.

A dynamic model of the CO2 respiratory control system is proposed, which can provide a qualitative basis for predicting breathing sensations. The discomfort index, which represents breathing sensations, is assumed to be composed of two sources: the arterial CO2 level and the respiratory motor command. The respiratory controller receives inhibitory neuromechanical and excitatory CO2 signals from the plant. The CO2 signal is enhanced by exercise stimuli. This dynamic multiplicative-type controller is used in simulations of key experiments: exercise and CO2 rebreathing with and without resistive loading. The dynamics of the discomfort index, the respiratory motor command, ventilation, and arterial CO2 concentration conform to the experimental data. The perceptual sensitivity to CO2 relative to respiratory effort is significantly correlated with the slope of hypercapnic ventilatory response. This result shows a clear linkage between ventilatory response and breathing sensations. Although it is shown that the automatic controller effectively minimizes the discomfort index for perturbations about an operating point under certain conditions, the discomfort index itself does not seem to be an underlying control principle of the proposed automatic controller model. Rather, breathing sensations may influence ventilatory responses by modifying the output of the automatic controller.

Carbon Dioxide

Effects of focal cooling of the ventral medullary surface on breathing pattern and blood pressure in dogs.

We assessed the effect of focal graded cooling of the ventral medullary surface (VMS) on breathing pattern and blood pressure in 15 anesthetized, vagotomized and artificially ventilated dogs. Diaphragmatic electromyogram or phrenic neurogram, referred to as Ec, and blood pressure (BP) were obtained during localized (2 x 2 mm2) cooling of the VMS. Greatest depression of both Ec and BP was obtained by cooling in the areas located 4-9 mm caudal to the foramen cecum (Fc) and lateral to the pyramids. Mild cooling in these intermediate areas decreased both inspiratory duration (Ti) and the rate of rise of Ec (Ec/Ti), but respiratory rate was unchanged. Cooling of the rostral areas (0-3 mm from Fc) induced mild depression of Ec amplitude due to reduction in Ec/Ti without changing Ti, and prolonged expiratory duration (Te) significantly. Cooling of the caudal areas (12-18 mm from Fc) reduced Ec amplitude mildly due to reduction in Ti without affecting Ec/Ti, and shortened Te greatly. Cooling of the rostral areas produced mild fall in BP, but cooling of the caudal areas did not affect BP significantly. It is suggested that rostral and intermediate parts of the VMS participate in the shaping of inspiratory drive, whereas wide areas of the VMS including caudal part are involved in the determination of respiratory timing. It is also suggested that the rostral and intermediate parts, and not the caudal part, of the VMS are important in the regulation of vasomotor tone.

Animals

Responses of upper airway muscles to gastrocnemius muscle contraction in dogs.

We studied electromyographic (EMG) responses of the alae nasi (AN) and the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscles, which act as upper airway dilators, during contraction of gastrocnemius muscle in six chest-intact anesthetized dogs with spontaneous breathing and in four thoracotomized, phrenicotomized and mechanically ventilated dogs with right thoracic and left cervical vagotomy. Muscle contraction was phasically induced by electrical stimulation of the intact gastrocnemius nerve or the distal cut end of this nerve for 20-30 sec. Stimulation intensity was determined as twice the motor threshold in each dog. In chest-intact animals, phasic contraction induced by intact nerve stimulation produced initial rapid increases in upper airway muscle activity, but stimulation of the distal cut end of the nerve did not show the rapid increase in upper airway muscle activity. Furthermore, stimulation of the proximal cut end did not produce any transient response with the stimulation intensity used in this study. In chest-open and vagotomized animals with artificial ventilation, responses of the upper airway muscles to contraction during the intact nerve stimulation were observed. These results suggest that the contraction of the gastrocnemius muscle activates upper airway dilating muscles via reflex mechanisms.

Afferent Pathways

Inhomogeneous response of expiratory muscle activity to cold block of the ventral medullary surface.

We assessed the effects of cooling the ventral medullary surface (VMS) on the activity of chest wall and abdominal expiratory muscles in eight anesthetized artificially ventilated dogs after vagotomy and denervation of the carotid sinus nerves. Electromyograms (EMGs) of the triangularis sterni, internal intercostal, abdominal external oblique, abdominal internal oblique, and transversus abdominis muscles were measured with EMG of the diaphragm as an index of inspiratory activity. Bilateral localized cooling (2 x 2 mm) in the thermosensitive intermediate part of the VMS produced temperature-dependent reduction in the EMG of diaphragm and abdominal muscles. The rib cage expiratory EMGs were little affected at 25 degrees C; their amplitudes decreased at lower VMS temperatures (less than 20 degrees C) but by significantly fewer degrees than the diaphragmatic and abdominal expiratory EMGs at a constant VMS temperature. With moderate to severe cooling (less than 20 degrees C) diaphragmatic EMG disappeared, but rib cage expiratory EMGs became tonic and resumed a phasic pattern shortly before the recovery of diaphragmatic EMG during rewarming of the VMS. These results indicate that the effects of cooling the VMS differ between the activity of rib cage and abdominal expiratory muscles. This variability may be due to inhomogeneous inputs from the VMS to expiratory motoneurons or to a different responsiveness of various expiratory motoneurons to the same input either from the VMS or the inspiratory neurons.

Animals

Decrease in functional residual capacity during inspiratory loading and the sensation of dyspnea.

The purposes of the present study were to determine the changes in functional residual capacity (FRC) during inspiratory loading and to examine their mechanisms. We studied seven normal subjects seated in a body plethysmograph. In both graded inspiratory elastic (35, 48, and 68 cmH2O/l) and resistive (21, 86, and 192 cmH2O.l-1.s) loading, FRC invariably decreased from control FRC and phasic expiratory activity increased. The reduction in FRC was greater with greater loads. A single inspiratory effort against an inspiratory occlusion at three different target mouth pressures (-25, -50, and -75 cmH2O) and durations (1, 2, and 5 s) also resulted in a decrease in FRC with an increase in expiratory electromyogram activity in the following expiration. The decrease in FRC was greater with greater target pressure and duration. This decrease in FRC is qualitatively similar to that during inspiratory loaded breathing, and we suspect that the same mechanisms are at work. Because neither vagal nor chemoreceptor reflex can account for these responses, we suspect conscious awareness of breathing or behavioral control to be responsible. In an additional study, the sensation of discomfort of breathing during elastic loading decreased with a decrease in FRC. These results suggest that the reduced FRC may be due to behavioral control of breathing to reduce the sensation of dyspnea during inspiratory loading.

Adult

Effects of bronchoconstriction and external resistive loading on the sensation of dyspnea.

To determine whether the intensity of dyspnea at a given level of respiratory motor output differs between bronchoconstriction and the presence of an external resistance, we compared the sensation of difficulty in breathing during isocapnic voluntary hyperventilation in six normal subjects. An external resistance of 1.9 cmH2O.1-1.s was applied during both inspiration and expiration. To induce bronchoconstriction, histamine aerosol (5 mg/ml) was inhaled until airway resistance (Raw) increased to a level approximately equal to the subject's control Raw plus the added external resistance. To clarify the role of vagal afferents on the genesis of dyspnea during both forms of obstruction to airflow, the effect of airway anesthesia by lidocaine aerosol inhalation was also examined after histamine and during external resistive loading. The sensation of difficulty in breathing was rated at 30-s intervals on a visual analog scale during isocapnic voluntary hyperpnea, in which the subjects were asked to copy an oscilloscope volume trace obtained previously during progressive hypercapnia. Histamine inhalation significantly increased the intensity of the dyspneic sensation over the equivalent external resistive load at the same levels of ventilation and occlusion pressure during voluntary hyperpnea. Inhaled lidocaine decreased the sensation of dyspnea during bronchoconstriction with no change in Raw, but it did not significantly change the sensation during external resistive loading. These results suggest that afferent vagal activity plays a role in the genesis of dyspnea during bronchoconstriction.

Adult

Role of hypoxic drive in regulation of postapneic ventilation during sleep in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

To elucidate the role of chemoresponsiveness in determining postapneic ventilation in sleep-disordered periodic breathing, we measured ventilatory response associated with apnea-induced arterial oxygen desaturation during sleep and compared it with the awake hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) in 12 male patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Awake HVR was measured at a slight hypocapnic level (end-tidal PCO2 = 37 +/- 1 mm Hg, mean +/- SEM), and separately at a PCO2 of 45 mm Hg. During non-REM sleep both the ventilatory rate (VE) and the average respiratory frequency (f) in the ventilatory phase between apneic episodes were inversely correlated with the nadir of arterial oxygen saturation (nSaO2) produced by the preceding apneic phase in all patients (VE versus nSaO2; r = -0.74 +/- 0.03, mean +/- SEM; f versus nSaO2, r = -0.56 +/- 0.04). The average tidal volume (VT) also was correlated with nSaO2 in 10 of the patients (r = -0.56 +/- 0.05). During REM sleep VE was correlated with nSaO2 in 11 patients (r = -0.75 +/- 0.03, p less than 0.02). The response of VE to nSaO2 (delta VE/delta nSaO2) varied widely among the patients (non-REM, 0.52 to 2.16; REM, 0.29 to 1.44 L/min/%) and was significantly lower during REM than non-REM sleep (p less than 0.01). The value of delta VE/delta nSaO2 during both non-REM and REM sleep was correlated with awake HVR at an end-tidal PCO2 of 45 mm Hg (non-REM, r = 0.83, p less than 0.02; REM, r = 0.76, p less than 0.05) but not with that at the hypocapnic level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Effects of elastic loading and exercise on pulmonary gas exchange in dogs.

We assessed the effects of negative intrathoracic pressure induced by inspiratory elastic loading on pulmonary, gas exchange with and without electrically induced hindlimb exercise in 8 normal, anesthetized dogs. Two elastic loads (EL) were used; one of 81 and one of 140 cmH2O/liter. These are equivalent to doubling and tripling the normal elastance of the dog's respiratory system, respectively. Elastic loading decreased ventilation and caused hypoxemia and hypercapnia, but it did not affect systemic arterial pressure or heart rate. During exercise, increase in ventilation was limited, whereas increase in cardiac output was not affected by elastic loading. Alveolar-arterial O2 tension difference (A-aDO2) was not changed significantly by exercise alone. However, elastic loading accompanied by exercise increased A-aDO2. Although comparable end-inspiratory pleural pressure was achieved with large EL (-29 +/- 2 cmH2O, mean +/- SE) and small EL with exercise (-30 +/- 2 cmH2O), the latter increased A-aDO2 whereas the former did not. Large negative intrapleural pressure combined with increased cardiac output may have caused transient interstitial edema.

Animals

Effects of focal cooling in the ventrolateral medulla on chemoresponsiveness in dogs.

Studies in cats and dogs have shown that the ventrolateral region of the medulla participates significantly in the shaping of the respiratory rhythm. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of unilateral focal cooling (15-20 degrees C) in the ventrolateral medullary region on respiratory responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia in dogs. A cryoprobe was used to cool selected locations in the ventrolateral medulla in 9 anesthetized and vagotomized dogs. Diaphragmatic electromyogram (EMG) was measured with implanted electrodes. The animals were ventilated artificially at a constant rate with 100% O2 and the inspired gas was switched to 7% CO2 in O2 or 10% O2 in N2 to determine the response to hypercapnia or hypoxia. The sites cooled ranged 4.0-8.0 mm rostral to obex, 3.0-5.5 mm lateral to midline, and within 1.5 mm deep from the ventral surface of the medulla. Unilateral focal cooling in this region significantly decreased the responses of both the amplitude and the rate of rise of diaphragmatic EMG to hypercapnia and hypoxia. These results support the hypothesis that neural structures in the ventrolateral medulla are important in the respiratory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia as well as for the setting of respiratory drive and timing.

Animals

Sensation of dyspnea during hypercapnia, exercise, and voluntary hyperventilation.

To determine whether the intensity of dyspnea at a given level of respiratory motor output depends on the nature of the stimulus to ventilation, we compared the sensation of difficulty in breathing during progressive hypercapnia (HC) induced by rebreathing, during incremental exercise (E) on a cycle ergometer, and during isocapnic voluntary hyperventilation (IVH) in 16 normal subjects. The sensation of difficulty in breathing was rated at 30-s intervals by use of a visual analog scale. There were no differences in the level of ventilation or the base-line intensity of dyspnea before any of the interventions. The intensity of dyspnea grew linearly with increases in ventilation during HC [r = 0.98 +/- 0.02 (SD)], E (0.95 +/- 0.03), and IVH (0.95 +/- 0.06). The change in intensity of dyspnea produced by a given change in ventilation was significantly greater during HC [0.27 +/- 0.04 (SE)] than during E (0.12 +/- 0.02, P less than 0.01) and during HC (0.30 +/- 0.04) than during IVH (0.16 +/- 0.03, P less than 0.01). The difference in intensity of dyspnea between HC and E or HC and IVH increased as the difference in end-tidal PCO2 widened, even though the time course of the increase in ventilation was similar. No significant differences were measured in the intensity of dyspnea that occurred with changes in ventilation between E and IVH. These results indicate that under nearisocapnic conditions the sensation of dyspnea produced by a given level of ventilation seems not to depend on the method used to produce that level of ventilation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Effects of expiratory resistive loading on the sensation of dyspnea.

To determine whether an increase in expiratory motor output accentuates the sensation of dyspnea (difficulty in breathing), the following experiments were undertaken. Ten normal subjects, in a series of 2-min trials, breathed freely (level I) or maintained a target tidal volume equal to (level II) or twice the control (level III) at a breathing frequency of 15/min (similar to the control frequency) with an inspiratory load, an expiratory load, and without loads under hyperoxic normocapnia. In tests at levels II and III, end-expiratory lung volume was maintained at functional residual capacity. A linear resistance of 25 cmH2O.1(-1).s was used for both inspiratory and expiratory loading; peak mouth pressure (Pm) was measured, and the intensity of dyspnea (psi) was assessed with a visual analog scale. The sensation of dyspnea increased significantly with the magnitude of expiratory Pm during expiratory loading (level II: Pm = 9.4 +/- 1.5 (SE) cmH2O, psi = 1.26 +/- 0.35; level III: Pm = 20.3 +/- 2.8 cmH2O, psi = 2.22 +/- 0.48) and with inspiratory Pm during inspiratory loading (level II: Pm = 9.7 +/- 1.2 cmH2O, psi = 1.35 +/- 0.38; level III: Pm = 23.9 +/- 3.0 cmH2O, psi = 2.69 +/- 0.60). However, at each level of breathing, neither the intensity of dyspnea nor the magnitude of peak Pm during loading was different between inspiratory and expiratory loading. The augmentation of dyspnea during expiratory loading was not explained simply by increases in inspiratory activity. The results indicate that heightened expiratory as well as inspiratory motor output causes comparable increases in the sensation of difficulty in breathing.

Adult

Effects of changes in level and pattern of breathing on the sensation of dyspnea.

Breathing during hypercapnia is determined by reflex mechanisms but may also be influenced by respiratory sensations. The present study examined the effects of voluntary changes in level and pattern of breathing on the sensation of dyspnea at a constant level of chemical drive. Studies were carried out in 15 normal male subjects during steady-state hypercapnia at an end-tidal PCO2 of 50 Torr. The intensity of dyspnea was rated on a Borg category scale. In one experiment (n = 8), the level of ventilation was increased or decreased from the spontaneously adopted level (Vspont). In another experiment (n = 9), the minute ventilation was maintained at the level spontaneously adopted at PCO2 of 50 Torr and breathing frequency was increased or decreased from the spontaneously adopted level (fspont) with reciprocal changes in tidal volume. The intensity of dyspnea (expressed as percentage of the spontaneous breathing level) correlated with ventilation (% Vspont) negatively at levels below Vspont (r = -0.70, P less than 0.001) and positively above Vspont (r = 0.80, P less than 0.001). At a constant level of ventilation, the intensity of dyspnea correlated with breathing frequency (% fspont) negatively at levels below fspont (r = -0.69, P less than 0.001) and positively at levels above fspont (r = 0.75, P less than 0.001). These results indicate that dyspnea intensifies when the level or pattern of breathing is voluntarily changed from the spontaneously adopted level. This is consistent with the possibility that ventilatory responses to changes in chemical drive may be regulated in part to minimize the sensations of respiratory effort and discomfort.

Adult

Effects of electrical stimulation of the genioglossus on upper airway resistance in anesthetized dogs.

We examined the relationship between the frequency of stimulation of the genioglossus and upper airway resistance in six anesthetized dogs in the supine position. The upper airway was isolated from the lower airway by transecting the cervical trachea, and the pressure flow relationship of the upper airway was obtained by applying constant negative pressure (5, 10, and 20 cm H2O) to the proximal cut end of the trachea. Electrical stimulation of the genioglossus was performed at a constant voltage (10 to 20 V) and at various frequencies (as high as 100 Hz). Upper airway resistance (Rua) during both inspiration and expiration increased with an increase in tracheal negative pressure, and at each tracheal negative pressure Rua was significantly reduced by stimulation of the genioglossus. The effects of genioglossal muscle stimulation were nonlinearly dependent on the stimulating frequency. Below 50 Hz, Rua decreased markedly as the stimulating frequency was increased, but above 50 Hz, Rua plateaued at a minimum value. These findings suggest that at a stimulating frequency of more than 50 Hz, upper airway patency is stably maintained in anesthetized dogs.

Airway Resistance