Hypoxia switches episodic breathing to singlet breathing in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) via a tropisetron-sensitive mechanism

•Hypoxia-induced changes in turtle breathing were examined.•Hypoxia increased singlet breathing and decreased episodic breathing.•Hypoxia-induced singlet breathing is abolished by tropisetron administration.

Hypoxia-induced changes in the chelonian breathing pattern are poorly understood. Thus, breathing was measured in freely swimming adult red-eared slider turtles breathing air prior to breathing nitrogen for 4 h. Ventilation increased 10-fold within 10 min due to increased breath frequency and tidal volume. Breaths/episode decreased by ∼50% within after 1 h of hypoxia while the number of singlet breaths increased from 3.1 ± 1.6 singlets/h to a maximum of 66.1 ± 23.5 singlets/h. Expiratory and inspiratory duration increased during hypoxia. For doublet and triplet breaths, expiratory duration increased during the first breath only, while inspiratory duration increased for all breaths. Tropisetron (5-HT3 receptor antagonist, 5 mg/kg) administration prior to hypoxia attenuated the hypoxia-induced increase in singlet breath frequency. Along with results from previous in vitro studies, this study suggests that 5-HT3 receptor activation may be required for the hypoxia-induced increase in singlet breathing pattern in red-eared slider turtles.