| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2847783 | Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology | 2010 | 7 Pages |
We investigated the specific role of LC noradrenergic (NA) neurons in the cardiorespiratory and thermal responses to hypoxia. Aiming this, LC NA neurons were selectively destroyed by microinjecting 6-OHDA bilaterally in the LC of male rats. Pulmonary ventilation (V˙E, plethysmograph), core body temperature (Tc, dataloggers), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (fH) were measured during normoxia followed by 7% O2 in air. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity was performed to verify the chemical lesions effectiveness. Hypoxia caused increase in V˙E, decrease in Tc and did not affect fH in both sham-operated and 6-OHDA-lesioned groups. In addition, hypoxia decreased MAP in the sham-operated group and did not affect MAP in the 6-OHDA-lesioned group. LC lesion did not affect V˙E, MAP, fH and Tc. Thus, these results indicate that LC noradrenergic neurons do not play a role in cardiorespiratory control and thermoregulation under basal and hypoxic conditions.
