Journal article
Patterns of Phrenic Nerve Discharge after Complete High Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in the Decerebrate Rat
Journal of neurotrauma, v 33(12), pp 1115-1127
15 Jun 2016
PMID: 26239508
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Studies conducted since the second half of the 19th century have revealed spontaneous as well as pharmacologically induced phasic/rhythmic discharge in spinal respiratory motor outputs of cats, dogs, rabbits, and neonatal rats following high cervical transection (Tx). The extent to which these various studies validate the existence of a true spinal respiratory rhythm generator remains debated. In this set of studies, we seek to characterize patterns of spontaneous phasic/rhythmic, asphyxia-induced, and pharmacologically induced activity occurring in phrenic nerve (PhN) discharge after complete high cervical (C1-C2) spinal cord transection. Experiments were performed on 20 unanesthetized decerebrate Sprague-Dawley adult male rats. Patterns of spontaneous activity after spinalization included tonic, phasic, slow oscillatory, and long-lasting tonic discharges. Topical application of antagonists of GABAA and glycine receptors to C1- and C2- spinal segments induced left-right synchronized phasic decrementing activity in PhN discharge that was abolished by an additional C2Tx. Asphyxia elicited increases in tonic activity and left-right synchronized gasp-like bursts in PhN discharge, demonstrating the presence of spinal circuits that may underlie a spinal gasping-like mechanism. We conclude that intrinsic slow oscillators and a phasic burst/rhythm generator exist in the spinal cord of the adult rat. If present in humans, this mechanism may be exploited to recover respiratory function in patients sustaining severe spinal cord injury.
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Details
- Title
- Patterns of Phrenic Nerve Discharge after Complete High Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in the Decerebrate Rat
- Creators
- Michael George Zaki Ghali - Drexel UniversityVitaliy Marchenko - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Journal of neurotrauma, v 33(12), pp 1115-1127
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Neurology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000377432100002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84974623889
- Other Identifier
- 991019312436204721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Critical Care Medicine
- Neurosciences