Transient changes in blood pressure during spontaneous deep breaths in rats with sinoaortic deafferentation

Sinoaortic deafferentation (SAD) in rats produces moderate increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) along with a large augmentation of arterial pressure lability (APL). The mechanisms generating this APL are incompletely understood. To study the possible influence of breathing activity on APL in conscious SAD rats, we simultaneously recorded pulmonary ventilation and arterial blood pressure. The general pattern of pulmonary ventilation was the same in normal, sham-operated, and SAD rats. In all groups single large tidal volumes were regularly interposed in 1- to 2-min periods of shallower breathing. In SAD rats these single large inspirations were consistently accompanied by substantial and abrupt reductions of MAP, whereas this effect was markedly smaller or absent in normal and sham-operated rats. The data reflect the lack of fast moment-to-moment control of arterial pressure normally exerted by the aortic and carotid baroreceptors. In this context, effects of ventilatory changes must be considered along with humoral and neurogenic factors to explain APL after SAD.