Effects of chronic hypoxia on MK-801-induced changes in the acute hypoxic ventilatory response

Chronic hypoxia increases the sensitivity of the central nervous system to afferent input from carotid body chemoreceptors. We hypothesized that this process involves N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated mechanisms and predicted that chronic hypoxia would change the effect of the NMDA receptor blocker dizocilpine (MK-801) on the poikilocapnic hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied before and after acclimatization to hypoxia (70 Torr inspiratory Po(2) for 9 days). We measured ventilation (VI) and the HVR before and after systemic MK-801 treatment (3 mg/kg ip). MK-801 resulted in a constant respiratory frequency (approximately 175 min(-1)) during acute exposure to 10% and 30% O(2) before and after acclimatization. MK-801 had no effect on tidal volume (VT) before acclimatization, but it significantly decreased Vt when the animals were breathing 10% O(2) after acclimatization. The net effect of MK-801 was to eliminate the O(2) sensitivity of Vi before (via changes in respiratory frequency) and after (via changes in VT) acclimatization. Hence, chronic hypoxia altered the effect of MK-801 on the acute HVR, primarily because of increased effects on Vt. This indicates that changes in NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission may be involved in ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxia. However, further experiments are necessary to determine the precise location of such plasticity in the central nervous system.