Metabolic regulation of aortic chemoreceptor responses to CO2.

Modification of the unusually feeble responses of aortic chemoreceptors to CO2 was studied in cats which were anethetized, paralyzed, artificially ventilated and maintained at 38 degrees C. The inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, oligomycin, strikingly augmented the initial responses to CO2 of aortic chemoreceptors just as for carotid chemoreceptors, indicating that the basic mechanism of chemoreception might be regulated in part through energy metabolism.