Faculty Collaboration Database

Plasticity in the control of breathing following sensory denervation. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2003 Feb;94(2):784-94

Date

01/18/2003

Pubmed ID

12531915

DOI

10.1152/japplphysiol.00602.2002

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0037311622 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   58 Citations

Abstract

The purpose of this manuscript is to review the results of studies on the recovery or plasticity following a denervation- or lesion-induced change in breathing. Carotid body denervation (CBD), lung denervation (LD), cervical (CDR) and thoracic (TDR) dorsal rhizotomy, dorsal spinal column lesions, and lesions at pontine, medullary, and spinal sites all chronically alter breathing. The plasticity after these is highly variable, ranging from near complete recovery of the peripheral chemoreflex in rats after CBD to minimal recovery of the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex in ponies after LD. The degree of plasticity varies among the different functions of each pathway, and plasticity varies with the age of the animal when the lesion was made. In addition, plasticity after some lesions varies between species, and plasticity is greater in the awake than in the anesthetized state. Reinnervation is not a common mechanism of plasticity. There is evidence supporting two mechanisms of plasticity. One is through upregulation of an alternate sensory pathway, such as serotonin-mediated aortic chemoreception after CBD. The second is through upregulation on the efferent limb of a reflex, such as serotonin-mediated increased responsiveness of phrenic motoneurons after CDR, TDR, and spinal cord injury. Accordingly, numerous components of the ventilatory control system exhibit plasticity after denervation or lesion-induced changes in breathing; this plasticity is uniform neither in magnitude nor in underlying mechanisms. A major need in future research is to determine whether "reorganization" within the central nervous system contributes to plasticity following lesion-induced changes in breathing.

Author List

Forster HV

Author

Hubert V. Forster PhD Professor in the Physiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Chemoreceptor Cells
Denervation
Humans
Mechanoreceptors
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
Neuronal Plasticity
Recovery of Function
Respiratory Mechanics