Ventilation and cardiac output during the onset of exercise, and during voluntary hyperventilation, in humans

Three normal subjects performed rest--exercise transitions on a cycle ergometer, from rest to unloaded pedalling (0 W), 50, 100 and 150 W. Each experiment was performed in triplicate, with randomized work load order, in two sessions. Ventilation was obtained breath-to-breath by integration of a pneumotachygraph signal, and cardiac output beat-to-beat by a new development of the Doppler technique. Results were bin-averaged in 4 s bins over the first 20 s, and compared to resting values. Both ventilation and cardiac output increased significantly in the first 2 s. This initial rise in ventilation was due entirely to an increase in rate, the subsequent rise mainly to increase in tidal volume. Cardiac output increased predominantly through change in rate with smaller increases in stroke volume. A striking feature was a tendency for ventilation and cardiac output responses to be biphasic with an initial rise followed by a slight fall at the 14 s mark, and a subsequent rise, at all work loads. Overall correlation between ventilation and cardiac output was therefore high (r = 0.92). Six normal subjects hyperventilated for 45 s voluntarily, (a) at rate 24/min and normal tidal volume; (b) at normal rate and tidal volume of 1.5 l; (c) at rate 24/min and tidal volume of 1.5 l. Cardiac output, averaged over 10-45 s, rose by 0.4, 0.5, and 1.0 l min-1 respectively, with falls in end-tidal PCO2 of 4, 6, and 8 mmHg. Six normal subjects hyperventilated for 60 s with rate 24/min and tidal volume of 1.4 l, and end-tidal PCO2 maintained at 38 +/-2 mm Hg. Cardiac output, averaged from 10-60 s, rose by 1.0 l min-1. With increased rate and tidal volume, whether isocapnic or hypocapnic, cardiac output responses showed an overshoot with a peak value at about 30 s. The hypothesis of 'cardiodynamic hyperpnoea' considers a possible effect of increasing cardiac output on ventilation. The effects of ventilation on cardiac output must also be considered. We propose an extended hypothesis involving stable positive feed-back.