Vagal amplification of phrenic nerve activity at different levels of ventilation in spontaneously breathing cats.

The vagal amplification of phrenic nerve activity (APHR) was studied as a function of minute ventilation (VE) in 12 spontaneously breathing, anaesthetized cats. Increasing levels of VE were obtained by repeated venous administrations of 2,4-dinitrophenol. The APHR was obtained from the ratio of the phrenic nerve activities in a normal and in an occluded breath. The APHR is thought to be mediated by slowly and/or rapidly adapting stretch receptors. Because airway CO2 may inhibit the discharge of these receptors, we also investigated the influence on APHR of adding 1% and 2% by volume of CO2 to inspired gas. The results showed that an increase in VE had no influence on APHR. The values of APHR ranged from 0.95 to 1.31 and were on average 1.08. Low levels of CO2 in inspired gas did not influence APHR. Our findings suggest that the vagal amplification of central inspiratory output as determined from phrenic nerve activity has a constant gain and it seems to play a relatively unimportant role in sustaining hyperpnoeic breathing.