Pressoreceptor modulation of renal but not splenic sympathetic reflexes.

Influences of sinoaortic and vagally innervated vascular pressoreceptors on excitatory splenic and renal sympathetic responses to splenic receptor stimulation were investigated in anesthetized cats. These experiments demonstrated that these pressoreceptors have little apparent effect on the magnitude of splenic nerve responses to splenic receptor stimulation by capsaicin, bradykinin, or congestion. In contrast, activation of these pressoreceptors attenuated renal nerve responses to splenic receptor stimulation. Influences of sinoaortic and vagally innervated receptors on tonic sympathetic nerve activity also were evaluated. Stimulation of these receptors by small increases in arterial pressure (15-21 mmHg) caused equivalent inhibition of splenic and renal nerve activity; large increases (50-66 mmHg) caused significantly greater inhibition of renal than splenic nerve activity. These results illustrate that excitatory renal and splenic sympathetic responses to splenic receptor stimulation are not suppressed equally by pressoreceptor activation, vascular pressoreceptors can have greater inhibitory influences on tonic renal than splenic nerve activity, and vascular pressoreceptor influences on sympathetic reflexes are similar to those on tonic nerve activity.