Decreased CSF pH at ventral brain stem induces widespread c-Fos immunoreactivity in rat brain neurons

Physiological evidence has indicated that central respiratory chemosensitivity may be ascribed to neurons located at the ventral medullary surface (VMS); however, in recent years, multiple sites have been proposed. Because c-Fos immunoreactivity is presumed to identify primary cells as well as second- and third-order cells that are activated by a particular stimulus, we hypothesized that activation of VMS cells using a known adequate respiratory stimulus, H(+), would induce production of c-Fos in cells that participate in the central pH-sensitive respiratory chemoreflex loop. In this study, stimulation of rostral and caudal VMS respiratory chemosensitive sites in chloralose-urethane-anesthetized rats with acidic (pH 7.2) mock cerebrospinal fluid induced c-Fos protein immunoreactivity in widespread brain sites, such as VMS, ventral pontine surface, retrotrapezoid, medial and lateral parabrachial, lateral reticular nuclei, cranial nerves VII and X nuclei, A(1) and C(1) areas, area postrema, locus coeruleus, and paragigantocellular nuclei. At the hypothalamus, the c-Fos reaction product was seen in the dorsomedial, lateral hypothalamic, supraoptic, and periventricular nuclei. These results suggest that 1) multiple c-Fos-positive brain stem and hypothalamic structures may represent part of a neuronal network responsive to cerebrospinal fluid pH changes at the VMS, and 2) VMS pH-sensitive neurons project to widespread regions in the brain stem and hypothalamus that include respiratory and cardiovascular control sites.