Bronchomotor response to cold air or helium-oxygen at normal and high ambient pressures

Effects of inhalation of cold air or helium-oxygen mixture on lung resistance (RL) were studied in anesthetized and tracheotomized rabbits under normal ambient pressure and in human volunteers under normo- and hyperbaric conditions. In artificially ventilated rabbits, an increase in RL occurred when the tracheal temperature fell to 10 degrees C. This effect was more than double with helium breathing compared to air, despite a lower respiratory heat loss by convection (Hc) with helium. In 3 normal humans, inhalation of cold air (mouth temperature = 8 degrees C) at sea level had no effect on RL value. However, with a helium-nitrogen-oxygen mixture, a weak but significant increase in RL due to cold gas breathing was measured in 1 subject at 2 ATA and in 2 individuals at 3.5 ATA. The density of inhaled gas mixture (air or He-N2-O2) was near the same in the three circumstances (1, 2, and 3.5 ATA) but Hc value increased with helium. At 8 ATA a 30-55% increase in RL occurred in the 3 divers during inhalation of cold gas (Hc was multiplied by 6 compared to air at sea level) and at 25 ATA the cold-induced bronchospasm ranged between 38 and 95% (Hc multiplied by 27). Thus, in rabbits and humans helium breathing enhanced the cold-induced increase in RL at normal or elevated ambient pressure, and this effect was interpreted as resulting from different mechanisms in the two circumstances.