Middle cardiac nerve section alters ventilatory response to PaCO2 in the cockerel

To determine whether afferents in the middle cardiac nerves (MCN) contribute to extrapulmonary PaCO2 sensitivity, we did the following: we anesthetized six cockerels with sodium pentobarbital (25-35 mg/kg), and cannulated the cutaneous ulnar vein, and the carotid and brachial arteries. The thorax was opened and each lung unidirectionally ventilated from separate gas delivery systems. A ligature, which temporarily occluded blood flow, was placed around the right pulmonary artery. Both cardiac sympathetic nerves were cut, as well as the left vagus just above the level of the recurrent branch. We exposed the non-perfused right lung to 105 Torr PCO, to silence intrapulmonary chemoreceptors (IPC). We measured blood pressure, heart rate and ventilatory movements while the denervated left lung was used to fix PaCO2 at seven levels ranging from 7-140 Torr. As arterial PCO2 increased, ventilatory amplitude increased from 0.3 mm to 3.6 mm, while frequency decreased from 140 to 24 per min. After cutting the MCN, ventilatory movements were less responsive to PaCO2 changes. Ventilatory amplitude was 3.0 mm at the lowest PaCO2 and increased to 4.0 at the highest PaCO2. We conclude that: 1) when IPC discharge is low, afferents in the MCN inhibit ventilatory movements during hypocapnia, and 2) these afferents may contribute to systemic CO2 sensitivity.