A technique for estimating activity in whole nerve trunks applied to the cervical sympathetic trunk, in the rabbit

The changes in sympathetic outflow may be evaluated from the amplitude of the antidromic compound action potential (ACAP) according to the collision technique described by Douglas and Ritchie (Douglas, W.W. and Ritchie J.M., A technique for recording functional activity in specific groups of medullated and non-medullated fibers in whole nerve trunks. J. Physiol., 138(1957) 19-30). This technique was revised, taking into account the depressant action exerted by antidromic stimulation on sympathetic preganglionic neurones (SPNs). Cervical sympathetic nerve (CSN) of rabbits was used as experimental model. Stimulation frequencies of 0.2-0.5 Hz were found to be sufficiently low to avoid depressant actions on CSN spontaneous activity; they were employed to test the sensitivity of the technique during different experimental manoeuvres, such as changes in pulmonary-ventilation, baroreceptor unloading and arousal stimuli. In addition a procedure was devised to calibrate the ACAP amplitude: high frequency antidromic stimulation was used to induce a complete and transient inhibition of SPNs which allows to record the ACAP maximum amplitude. ACAPs recorded in various experimental conditions can then be expressed as percentage of this value.