title: Intramedullary sodium cyanide injection on respiratory and vasomotor responses in cats.
abstract: To examine the effect of hypoxia confined to the ventrolateral medulla we microinjected NaCN into the cat medulla (1.0 mm below the ventral surface) unilaterally and investigated cardio-respiratory changes. We studied anesthetized artificially ventilated animals and measured the electrical activity of phrenic and cervical sympathetic nerves and blood pressure. Histotoxic hypoxia depressed phrenic amplitude and elevated sympathetic tone and blood pressure. These responses were obtained predominantly from the region 5.0-8.0 mm caudal to the foramen caecum and 3.0-5.0 mm lateral to the midline (intermediate area). A study with 14C-cyanide showed that total and covalently bound cyanide was confined within a 1 mm diffusion sphere following microinjection. Isolated areas in both rostral and caudal medulla responded to cyanide with elevated sympathetic tone in the absence of phrenic nerve depression, suggesting dissociation of respiratory and vasomotor responses to hypoxia. Thus, the respiratory depression and vasomotor excitation produced by central hypoxia can be reproduced by hypoxia limited to discrete regions of the ventrolateral medulla.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biometry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Dev
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ernsberger
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Cherniack
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008845:Microinjections; D010791:Phrenic Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000187:drug effects*; D012966:Sodium Cyanide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D014666:Vasomotor System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012966:Sodium Cyanide