Effects of brain stem hypoxaemia on the regulation of breathing

In 22 cats, anaesthetized with chloralose-urethane, the brain stem was artificially perfused with their own blood via a gas exchanger in which the central PaO2 and PaCO2 were imposed independently from the peripheral PaO2 and PaCO2 in the systemic arterial blood. The effects of brain stem hypoxaemia on ventilation and on the ventilatory responses to central and peripheral chemoreceptor stimulation were investigated. When the central PaO2 was lowered from 375 mm Hg to 100 and 50 mm Hg, keeping all other blood gas tensions constant, ventilation decreased on the average by 0.22 L X min-1 and 0.54 L X min-1, respectively. The increase in ventilation due to peripheral hypoxaemia and the sensitivities to central and peripheral CO2 (delta VE/delta PaCO2) were independent of the central PaO2, despite the depression of ventilation. The sensitivity to central CO2 was also not influenced when central hypoxaemia was combined with peripheral hypoxaemia. The linear VE-VT relation was not affected by central hypoxaemia. Our findings suggest that the functioning of respiratory neurons in the brain stem is unaltered during moderate central hypoxaemia.