Regional hemodynamic effects of changes in PaCO2 in the vagotomized, sino-aortic de-afferented rat

Rats were anesthetized with urethane (1.5 g/kg i.p.) paralyzed with gallamine (3 mg/kg, i.v.), artificially ventilated and the vagi, carotid sinus and aortic nerves were cut. PaCO2 levels of 16.4 +/- 0.8, 23.3 +/- 1.6, 32.3 +/- 1.8 and 51.9 +/- 2.2 mm Hg were obtained by hyperventilation in 0%, 3%, 5% and 8% CO2 in O2, respectively. Radioactive microspheres labelled with 57Co or 113Sn were injected into the left ventricle and cardiac output and regional blood flows were determined by the 'arterial reference sample' method. Increasing PaCO2 induced an increase in systemic arterial pressure which was predominantly due to a significant increase in total peripheral resistance, while the increase in cardiac output was much less pronounced and no changes in heart rate were observed. The effect of increasing PaCO2 on regional vascular resistance (VR) was not uniformly distributed. CO2 induced a dilatation in the cerebral, bronchial and hepatic artery vascular beds. Coronary VR was not affected while vasoconstriction was induced by CO2 in the other vascular territories. This vasoconstriction was most significant in skeletal muscle, skin, pancreas, large intestine and kidneys. In most of these territories the vasoconstrictor effect of CO2 was observed at PaCO2 levels above 23.3 mm Hg, while between 16.4 and 23.3 mm Hg there was either no change or a decrease in VR. Propranolol and phentolamine (1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, i.v., respectively), which caused a 78% +/- 2% adrenergic blockade, significantly reduced the CO2 pressor and vasoconstrictor effects. Our experiments show that, after peripheral chemoreceptor denervation in the rat: (a) there is a direct relationship between PaCO2 and VR mediated by the sympathetic nervous system over the whole range of PaCO2 values from hypocapnia to hypercapnia, and (b) the various vascular territories contribute to a different extent to the CO2-induced changes in total peripheral resistance.