Assessment of an airway-to-pulmonary circulation reflex in cats

In anesthetized, mechanically ventilated cats we studied the effects on pulmonary circulation of sustained distension or increased air flow stream in an isolated, innervated upper airway segment constituted by the cervical trachea, the larynx and the pharynx. Direct and averaged pulmonary artery pressures and blood flows were measured. In intact cats, sustained distension as well as increased air flow stream in the upper airway segment induced significant, marked increase in pulmonary artery pressure with concomitant decrease in blood flow. No change in heart rate occurred. Section of the superior laryngeal nerves (SLNs), which denervated the tracheolaryngeal segment but not the epipharynx, markedly reduced and delayed the pulmonary vascular response to mechanical stimulation of the upper airways. The response was not found after cervical bivagotomy. The present observations demonstrate the existence of an airway-to-pulmonary circulation reflex, largely mediated through SLNs afferent pathways, the vagus nerve constituting the efferent arm of the reflex.