Effect of vagus nerve cooling on hypercapnic and hypoxic ventilatory responses in anesthetized dogs

We studied ventilatory responses under hypercapnic and hypoxic conditions in 18 lightly anesthetized dogs, using a vagus nerve cooling technique. One side of the cervical vagosympathetic trunks of dogs were previously severed, and a copper cooling probe was attached to the other side. When the cervical nerve was cooled below 7 degrees C, Hering-Breuer inflation reflex ceased. We found that when the vagus nerve was not cooled or cooled up to 7 degrees C, the respiratory frequency increased significantly in relation to hypercapnic gas inhalation. However, the increment of respiratory frequency was reduced by bilateral cervical vagotomy. On the other hand, the respiratory frequency in response to hypoxia increased significantly, even when bilateral vagotomy was done. The increment of the tidal volume in response to hypercapnic gas inhalation was reduced by the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex. We found that the effect of the vagus nerve on respiratory regulation was different between hypercapnic and hypoxic gas inhalation.