Neuroplasticity of the central hypercapnic ventilatory response: teratogen-induced impairment and subsequent recovery...

Neuroventilation is highly plastic and exposure to either of two distinct teratogens, nicotine or ethanol, during development results in a similar loss of the neuroventilatory response to hypercapnia in bullfrog tadpoles. Whether this functional deficit is permanent or transient following nicotine or ethanol exposure was unknown. Here, we tested the persistence of hypercapnic neuroventilatory response impairments in tadpoles exposed to either 30 microg/L nicotine or 0.12-0.06 g/dL ethanol for 10 weeks. Brainstem breathing-related neural activity was assessed in tadpoles allowed to develop teratogen-free after either nicotine or ethanol exposure. Nicotine-exposed animals responded normally to hypercapnia after a 3-week teratogen-free period but the hypercapnic response in ethanol-exposed tadpoles remained impaired. Tadpoles allowed to develop for only 1 week nicotine free after chronic exposure were unable to respond to hypercapnia. The hypercapnic response of ethanol-exposed tadpoles returned by 6 weeks following chronic ethanol exposure. These findings suggest that some nicotine- and ethanol-induced impairments can be resolved during early development. Understanding both the disruptive effects of nicotine and ethanol exposure and how impaired responses return when teratogen exposure stops may offer insight on the function and plasticity of respiratory control.