Browsing by Author "ALCAYAGA, J"

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    CAROTID-BODY CHEMORECEPTOR EXCITATION PRODUCED BY CAROTID OCCLUSION
    (1986) ALCAYAGA, J; ITURRIAGA, R; ZAPATA, P
    The effects of common carotid artery occlusions on the afferent activity recorded from the carotid (sinus) nerve were studied in 20 pentobarbitone anesthetized cats. Ipsilateral occlusions lowered intrasinusal pressure down to 15-100 torr, depending on previous pressures, and resulted in silencing of carotid barosensory impulses. For cats breathing room air and with mean systemic arterial pressure below 125 torr, chemosensory excitation was induced whenever these occlusions lasted 5 sec or longer and it persisted during 10 min occlusions. The chemosensory excitation had a delay of about 4 sec and the maximal frequency of discharges was attained at nearly 30 sec, followed by a maintained submaximal level of about 80-90% of the peak frequency. For ipsilateral occlusions performed under 100% O2 inhalation, the delay of the excitation was increased to ca. 20 sec and the maximal frequency attained only 30-40% of that obtained for the same animal when breathing room air. Bilateral occlusions caused deeper falls in intrasinusal pressure and stronger chemoreceptor excitation. When arterial pressure was above 130 torr, ipsilateral occlusions only produced transient increases in chemosensory discharges or suppression of their ventilatory fluctuations. Chemical stimuli further increased chemosensory frequency during occlusions, indicating that blood flow through carotid body was not arrested. It is concluded that occlusions of the common carotid may induce an increased frequency of carotid chemosensory discharges. This increment is dependent on systemic arterial pressure, ventilatory conditions and duration of the occlusion. It is suggested that the increased carotid chemosensory activity may interact with the withdrawal of barosensory discharges to elicit the reflex changes observed during carotid occlusions.
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    CONFREG - A BASIC PROGRAM FOR CALCULATING AND PLOTTING CONFIDENCE-REGIONS BASED ON CORRELATIONAL ANALYSES
    (1989) ITURRIAGA, R; ALCAYAGA, J; ZAPATA, P
    Many observations encountered in biological and medical research are randomly distributed in bivariate scales, and thus not susceptible to simple regression analyses. Since such data are depicted by ellipses in scatter diagrams, a computer program to calculate the confidence regions for the means or the total data of bivariate samples was written in BASIC for correlational analyses. The program, based on the principal axes algorithm, plots the calculated confidence regions as an elliptic area, using the fitted equations for its major and minor axes. The program displays the sample parameters required to perform comparisons between different groups of experimental conditions.
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    FLOW-DEPENDENT CHEMOSENSORY ACTIVITY IN THE CAROTID-BODY SUPERFUSED INVITRO
    (1988) ALCAYAGA, J; ITURRIAGA, R; ZAPATA, P
    The relationship between carotid body chemoreceptor activity and flow was studied in preparations superfused in vitro. The carotid bodies were excised from pentobarbitone-anesthetized cats and superfused with modified Tyrode''s solution, buffered with HEPES-NaOH to pH 7.41. The bath temperature was kept constant at 37.7.degree. C. The frequency of chemosensory discharges from the entire carotid nerve was determined during steady-state superfusion with 100% or 20% O2-equilibrated saline at flow rates between 0.15 and 2.95 ml/min, and during 5 min flow interruptions. The peak frequency evoked by flow interruptions was maximal and independent of previous superfusion flows, but the half-excitation time of chemosensory responses to flow interruption was minimal when preceded by superfusion with 100% O2-equilibrated saline at 0.7 ml/min. In steady-state conditions, mean chemosensory activity was higher at lower rates of flow, and, at constant flow, higher under 20% O2 than under 100% O2. To allow comparisons of all data, basal frequencies at given basal flows were referred to their own maximal frequencies evoked by flow interruptions. The best fitting for the relation between basal chemosensory activity and superfusion flow was provided by inverse sigmoid (logistic decay) curves: r = -0.90 and -0.84, at 100% and 20% O2 levels, respectively. The maximal gains were at about 0.78 and 0.86 ml/min, respectively. It is concluded that the chemosensory discharge frequency recorded from carotid bodies superfused in vitro is determined by the superfusion flow, when all other natural chemoreceptor stimuli are held constant.
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    THERMAL-DEPENDENCE OF CHEMOSENSORY ACTIVITY IN THE CAROTID-BODY SUPERFUSED INVITRO
    (1993) ALCAYAGA, J; SANHUEZA, Y; ZAPATA, P
    We studied the relationship between chemosensory activity and temperature in carotid bodies excised from pentobarbitone-anesthetized cats, and superfused in vitro at flows between 0.4 and 2.0 ml/min with modified Tyrode's solution buffered with HEPES at pH 7.43. The basal frequencies of chemosensory discharges were recorded from the entire carotid nerve at different steady thermal conditions. For preparations superfused with saline equilibrated with 100% O2, thermally dependent increases in frequency were observed, with significant differences between all nearby thermal stages separated by 0.5-degrees-C steps between 36.0 and 38.5-degrees-C. The larger gains were recorded between higher temperatures at high flows, between mid temperatures at intermediate flows, and between lower temperatures at low flows. The critical temperature for the calculated maximal gain was directly correlated to superfusion flow. The basal frequencies were consistently elevated when switching to saline equilibrated with 20% O2 and no significant differences in mean ranks were recorded between 36 and 37-degrees-C, as between 38 and 39-degrees-C, but frequencies at 36-37-degrees-C were significantly higher than those at 38-39-degrees-C. Brief rises in chemosensory discharges were evoked by injections of NaCN applied to carotid bodies superfused with saline equilibrated with 100% O2. The least effective dose was lower at 40-degrees-C than at 37.5-degrees or 35.0-degrees-C, but the reactivity and slope were not significantly different. It is concluded that the carotid body chemoreceptors fulfill the criteria for being considered as thermosensors, and that their frequency of discharges is thermally modulated within a range close to physiological body temperature.