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The relationship between arterial pH and chemoreceptor firing in anaesthetized cats
1Laboratory of Applied Physiology, St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School, U.M.D.S., London, U.K.
Abstract:
The relationship between the respiratory oscillation in arterial pH and resulting respiratory oscillation in afferent chemoreceptor discharge has been investigated in anaesthetized, ventilated cats. The amplitude of the pH oscillations was reduced from a mean of 0.028 pH units to 0.016 by increasing respiratory frequency from 14/min to 20/min. For some chemoreceptors the amplitude of the discharge oscillations was unaffected by this change, whereas for others it was reduced. There was a significant correlation (P less than 0.05) between the reduction in the amplitude of discharge oscillations, caused by increasing respiratory rate, and the delay between the pH oscillation and the corresponding discharge oscillation. The implications of these findings are discussed.