Respiration physiology
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Respiration physiology · Jun 1983
Dependence of high altitude sleep apnea on ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia.
Respiration in man exposed to 5400 m was studied during sleep over a period of 6-8 h at night. Subjects were adult males, and belonged to distinct groups: one was Sherpa high altitude residents of the Himalayas and the other consisted of causasian sojourners from near sea level. All the volunteers had spent at least 32 days at or above 5400 m before the study. ⋯ None of the Sherpa highlanders with low ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia showed any sustained periodic breathing with apnea. The large breathing oscillations and periodic apnea correlated well with the ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia (r = 0.85), supporting the hypothesis that a high gain of the peripheral chemoreflex is conductive to periodic breathing. Sherpas by attenuating chemoreflexes have reduced instability as well as cost of breathing at high altitude.
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Respiration physiology · Oct 1982
Optimal inputs for parameter determination of inert gas washout from the lung.
The nitrogen washout test will yield more information about the distribution of pulmonary ventilation if a pattern of inspired gas concentrations is utilized other than the standard series of 100% oxygen breaths. The input breathing pattern which yields optimal results will vary with the specific features of the lung being studied but typically includes breaths of air, particularly in the last third of the washout. Using computerized, mathematical techniques, optimal inputs were selected for washout tests of duration 10, 20, 30 and 40 breaths for each of six lung models, ranging from a unicompartmental to a highly non-uniform 'diseased' lung. ⋯ Comparisons were made using computer simulated washouts as well as actual tests on human subjects. The 30-breath nominal input was always superior to the standard washout and was superior to the PRB input for all models except the lung ventilated with vital capacity breaths. We conclude that a significant advantage is gained by substituting the recommended sequences of breaths in studies of the dynamics of gas exchange in the lung.
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Respiration physiology · Nov 1981
Influence of diet on CO2 production and ventilation in constant-load exercise.
The coupling between ventilation (VE) and oxygen uptake (VO2) or carbon dioxide production (VCO2) was tested during constant-load cycle ergometry in five healthy, young female volunteers. The ratio of VCO2/VO2 (respiratory quotient, RQ) was altered during exercise by prior dietary manipulation involving three diets: (a) low carbohydrate (L), (b) high carbohydrate (H) and (c) normal, mixed (M) diet. The constant power output selected for a 10-min exercise period approximated 80% of the power output at the anaerobic threshold. ⋯ In the L diet, VE/VCO2 was greater than the H diet (P less than 0.05). A kinetic analysis showed no differences as a consequence of the diets in the rate of adaptation of VO2, VCO2 or VE to the plateau levels. This study has demonstrated an uncoupling of the constant relationship between VE and VCO2 by prior dietary manipulation; however, the relationship between VE and VO2 remained constant in spite of a change in the metabolic RQ which altered VO2 and VCO2 at a constant power output.
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Respiration physiology · Feb 1981
Carotid chemoreceptor function in ventilatory and circulatory O2 convection of exercising dogs at low and high altitude.
Awake dogs were studied before (control) and after chronic bilateral carotid denervation (denervated) at rest and running for 3 min on a treadmill at 8 km . h-1 and at various grades, in an altitude chamber operated either at 140 m or at 4000 m for 3 h. Steady-state pulmonary ventilation (Vg) and breathing pattern (VT, fR), oxygen consumption (MO2), O2 concentrations (C) and pressures (P) in the arterial (a) and mixed venous blood (v), hematocrit (Ht) and acid-base status in arterial blood, and heart frequency (fH) were measured. From these data cardiac output (Vb) and stroke volume (Vs), ventilatory and circulatory requirements (Vg/Mo2, Vb/MO2), extraction of O2 from inspired gas (EairO2) and blood (EbO2), and capacitance coefficient of blood for oxygen (beta bO2) were calculated. ⋯ At 4000 m, AP increased not significantly in controls, and decreased in denervated animals; PP increased in controls, but not in denervated dogs. It is concluded that integrity of the arterial chemoreceptor drive is essential in determining the eupneic level of ventilation and normal acid-base status of the blood in both resting and exercising dogs, at low and at high altitude, and in reducing the O2 circulatory requirement at high altitude. At 4000 m, the lack of carotid chemosensitivity is accompanied by severe hypoxemia, in association with hypercapnia and acidosis, and by increased cardiac blood flow, most presumably due to decreased peripheral resistance and increased venous return; despite these compensatory changes in circulatory O2 convective transport, denervated animals reach a maximum O2 uptake at lower work load than controls.
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Respiration physiology · Nov 1980
Discharge of intrapulmonary chemoreceptors and its modulation by rapid F1CO2 changes in decerebrate ducks.
Single-unit activity was recorded from intrapulmonary chemoreceptors (IPC) in decerebrate ducks inspiring room air (fresh air or control breath), or a short pulse of room air preceded and followed by 5% CO2 (fresh air pulse or experimental breath). Of 36 IPC studied, 28 fired a burst of impulses of similar duration to the fresh air pulse; delaying the fresh air pulse until later and later in inspiration progressively delayed the IPC burst. The remaining 8 IPC did not respond discretely to the fresh air pulse, rather their discharge was reduced diffusely in one or both of the ventilatory phases. ⋯ Am. J. Physiol. 237: R260-R265)].