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J Physiol. 2017 Mar 01;595(5):1593-1606. doi: 10.1113/JP273682. Epub 2017 Feb 14.

Vagal denervation inhibits the increase in pulmonary blood flow during partial lung aeration at birth.

The Journal of physiology

Justin A R Lang, James T Pearson, Corinna Binder-Heschl, Megan J Wallace, Melissa L Siew, Marcus J Kitchen, Arjan B Te Pas, Robert A Lewis, Graeme R Polglase, Mikiyasu Shirai, Stuart B Hooper

Affiliations

  1. The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia.
  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
  3. Monash Biomedical Imaging Facility and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
  4. Australian Synchrotron, Melbourne, Australia.
  5. Department of Cardiac Physiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Centre Research Institute, Osaka, Japan.
  6. Medical University of Graz, Austria.
  7. School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
  8. Department of Pediatrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands.
  9. Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
  10. Department of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

PMID: 27902842 PMCID: PMC5330930 DOI: 10.1113/JP273682

Abstract

KEY POINTS: Lung aeration at birth significantly increases pulmonary blood flow, which is unrelated to increased oxygenation or other spatial relationships that match ventilation to perfusion. Using simultaneous X-ray imaging and angiography in near-term rabbits, we investigated the relative contributions of the vagus nerve and oxygenation to the increase in pulmonary blood flow at birth. Vagal denervation inhibited the global increase in pulmonary blood flow induced by partial lung aeration, although high inspired oxygen concentrations can partially mitigate this effect. The results of the present study indicate that a vagal reflex may mediate a rapid global increase in pulmonary blood flow in response to partial lung aeration.

ABSTRACT: Air entry into the lungs at birth triggers major cardiovascular changes, including a large increase in pulmonary blood flow (PBF) that is not spatially related to regional lung aeration. To investigate the possible underlying role of a vagally-mediated stimulus, we used simultaneous phase-contrast X-ray imaging and angiography in near-term (30 days of gestation) vagotomized (n = 15) or sham-operated (n = 15) rabbit kittens. Rabbits were imaged before ventilation, when one lung was ventilated (unilateral) with 100% nitrogen (N

© 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.

Keywords: angiography; newborn; perfusion; pulmonary blood flow; vagotomy; ventilation

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