Renal and cardiovascular afferent inputs to hypothalamic paraventriculo-spinal neurons

Experiments were done in chloralose-anesthetized cats to identify single units in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) that responded to stimulation of afferent renal nerves (ARN) and the buffer nerves (carotid sinus (CSN) and aortic depressor (ADN) nerves), and whose axons projected directly to thoracic spinal sympathetic areas. Of 426 single units tested in the PVH region, 20 were antidromically activated by stimulation of the spinal cord. Sixteen of these antidromic units (80%) responded orthodromically to stimulation of ARN and/or the buffer nerves; 6 units (30%) were excited by ARN stimulation only, 2 units (10%) were excited by both ARN and buffer nerve stimulation, and 6 units were excited and 2 inhibited by buffer nerve stimulation only. These data demonstrate that sensory information originating in renal and cardiovascular receptors alters the firing rate of PVH-spinal projecting neurons and suggest that this long renal-PVH reflex loop may contribute to the elevation of arterial pressure (AP) during conditions when ARN are activated.