Functional localization of pulmonary stretch receptors in the tracheobronchial tree of the kitten.

Seven kittens age 5 to 8 days were anaesthetized with ketamine, tracheotomized, cannulated just below the larynx, paralyzed, and ventilated. The thorax was widely opened and an expiratory load equal to the transpulmonary pressure at functional residual capacity (PLFRC) added. Single vagal fibers were dissected from the peripheral cut end of the right vagus nerve. Thirty-eight receptor discharges modulated during the respiratory cycle (pulmonary stretch receptors, PSR) were studied; 4 (10.5%) were tonically active at PLFRC while the remaining 34 had a mean threshold at 3.2 cmH2O. All the receptors progressively increased their discharge frequency with higher pressures reaching a plateau between 8-10 cmH2O. By occluding the airways at different levels of the tracheobronchial tree 32 PSR were functionally localized: none were found in the extrathoracic trachea; 3 (9.5%) were located in the intrathoracic trachea, 12 (37.5%) at the carina, main bronchi, and lobar bronchi, and 17 (53%) inside the lobes. All three tracheal receptors were tonic PSR. Previously obtained data from adult mammals indicate that 27-60% of PSR are tonically active and most of these are located in the trachea. The low incidence of tonically active PSR in the kitten may suggest a delayed functional maturation of the tracheal receptors.