Discharge of pulmonary rapidly adapting stretch receptors during HFO ventilation

High-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) has been shown to stimulate slowly adapting pulmonary stretch receptors (PSR) and thereby to inhibit spontaneous breathing, i.e. HFOV prolongs expiration or even elicits normocapnic apnea. However, during HFOV respiratory effects possibly mediated by pulmonary rapidly adapting receptors (RAR) have also been observed, e.g., diaphragmatic activation or augmented breaths. Therefore, we analyzed HFOV-induced changes in RAR activity in anaesthetized rabbits by mean of single fibre preparations of vagal RAR afferents. HFOV was applied in several combinations of airway pressure (Paw) and oscillation frequency (fOsc). In the sample of 60 RAR fibres prepared in 20 rabbits we found a wide spectrum of discharge patterns during HFOV. The inspiratory discharge rate during HFOV was increased in 38, decreased in 10, and unchanged in 12 RAR. The expiratory discharge rate was increased in 34, decreased in 17, and unchanged in 9 RAR. The effects of gradually changing Paw or of fOsc during HFOV were different in different fibres. In 17 fibres both inspiratory and expiratory discharge rates rose with increasing Paw during HFOV, whereas 19 fibres were not affected by increasing Paw. In some fibres either the inspiratory (12) or the expiratory (9) activity was inhibited in proportion to increasing Paw. From these results we conclude, that (a) the changes of RAR activity during HFOV are heterogeneous and the reflex effects of RAR stimulation may be balanced by RAR with decreased activity; (b) this heterogeneity of RAR discharge patterns explains the dominancy in the control of breathing during HFOV of the homogeneously stimulated PSR; and (c) depending on HFOV ventilatory parameters used the overall RAR stimulation may be strong enough to overrule the inspiration-inhibiting effects of PSR.