Sinovagal interaction in arterial pressure restoration after 10% hemorrhage.

The summation between the carotid sinus baroreceptor reflex system (CS system) and the vagally mediated reflex system (V system) was studied as they restore mean arterial pressure (MAP) after 10% quick hemorrhage in splenectomized conscious dogs chronically instrumented with catheters for pressure measurement and hemorrhage. The experiment was repeated under nerve-intact condition (intact), with cold block of the vagi ([V]), after carotid sinus denervation (CS), and CS plus [V] situations. MAP falls at 1.5 min after the hemorrhage were 7.2 in intact, 24.7 in [V], 36.0 in CS, and 67.6 in CS + [V] mmHg. When we calculated the open-loop gains of CS and V systems assuming a simply additive summation between them a self-contradiction occurred. To avoid this contradiction, it was necessary to assume that CS and V systems interact in a facilitatory manner. Mean open-loop gains calculated under this assumption were 1.64 for the CS system alone, 0.89 for the V system alone, and 6.59 for the interacting component between them. These intriguing results warrant further analysis of the summation between the two reflex systems.