Attenuated phrenic long-term facilitation in orexin neuron-ablated mice

We examined phrenic long-term facilitation (LTF) in urethane-anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated orexin neuron-ablated mice and their wild-type littermates. Effect of isocapnic single hypoxic episode (SHE, for 45 s) and intermittent hypoxia (IH, 5 times of SHE separated by 5 min) on phrenic nerve activity (PNA) was measured for 1–2 h. In wild-type mice, amplitude of PNA gradually increased after cessation of IH and reached 55 ± 15% above the baseline (n = 7, p < 0.05) whereas the burst rate of PNA did not change. Qualitatively similar but significantly attenuated response (16 ± 8%) was observed in orexin neuron-ablated mice. SHE did not affect amplitude nor frequency in both animals. We conclude that orexin contributes to eliciting phrenic LTF at least in part in mice. This study also showed, for the first time, phrenic LTF following IH in WT mice. Characteristics of phrenic and ventilatory LTF in mice were similar to those in rats.