Reflex cardiovascular responses to chemoreceptor stimulation in conscious dogs with cardiac hypertrophy

Carotid chemoreceptor reflex activation (CCRA) has been previously shown to result in intense alpha-adrenergic peripheral vasoconstriction, a biphasic coronary vascular response characterized by an early vasodilation and a late alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction, and a cholinergic increase in cardiac cycle length in normal conscious dogs. In the present study, we investigated the extent to which these reflex cardiovascular responses to CCRA are modified after the development of pressure-overload right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy induced by chronic (9-12 mo) pulmonary arterial stenosis. With heart rate constant and respiration allowed to vary spontaneously, the magnitude of the late CCRA-induced (intracarotid nicotine) increase (P less than 0.01) in right coronary resistance was markedly attenuated (P less than 0.01) in conscious dogs with RV hypertrophy [0.29 +/- 0.07 (SE) mmHg X ml-1 X min] compared with normal dogs (1.87 +/- 0.36). When respiration was controlled to eliminate pulmonary inflation reflex activation, the late CCRA-induced increase (P less than 0.01) in right coronary resistance was still found to be depressed (P less than 0.01) in the RV hypertrophy group (1.11 +/- 0.20 mmHg X ml-1 X min) compared with normal dogs (3.65 +/- 0.75). This late CCRA-induced right coronary vasoconstriction was not potentiated by beta-adrenergic receptor blockade but was abolished (P less than 0.01) by alpha-adrenergic receptor blockade. In contrast to the depressed right coronary vasoconstriction, the CCRA-induced alpha-adrenergic constriction (P less than 0.01) of the iliac arterial vascular bed was similar in both groups, and the cholinergic increase (P less than 0.01) in cardiac cycle length was enhanced (P less than 0.01) in the RV hypertrophy group compared with normal dogs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)