Characterisation of sleep apneas and respiratory circuitry in mice lacking CDKL5.

CDKL5 deficiency disorder is a rare genetic disease caused by mutations in the CDKL5 gene. Central apneas during wakefulness have been reported in patients with CDKL5 deficiency disorder. Studies on CDKL5-knockout mice, a CDKL5 deficiency disorder model, reported sleep apneas, but it is still unclear whether these events are central (central sleep apnea) or obstructive (obstructive sleep apnea) and may be related to alterations of brain circuits that modulate breathing rhythm.

M muscarinic receptors mediate acetylcholine-induced suppressant effects on the cough reflex in the caudal nucleus tractus solitarii of the rabbit.

It has been shown that muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) located within the caudal nucleus tractus solitarii (cNTS) mediate a cholinergic inhibitory control mechanism of the cough reflex. Thus, identification of the involved mAChR subtypes could be of considerable interest for novel therapeutic strategies. In pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized, spontaneously breathing rabbits we investigated the contribution of different mAChR subtypes in the modulation of mechanically and chemically induced cough reflex.

Somatically evoked cough responses help to identify patients with difficult-to-treat chronic cough: a six-month observational cohort study.

Background: Recently we identified in patients with chronic cough a sensory dysregulation via which the urge-to-cough (UTC) or coughing are evoked mechanically from "somatic points for cough" (SPCs) in the neck and upper trunk. We investigated the prevalence and the clinical relevance of SPCs in an unselected population of patients with chronic cough.

Methods: From 2018 to 2021, symptoms of 317 consecutive patients with chronic cough (233 females) were collected on four visits (V1-V4) 2 months apart at the Cough Clinic of the University Hospital in Florence (I).

Somatic points for cough and urge to cough in chronic coughers.

In patients with chronic cough and age-matched control subjects, we attempted to evoke coughing and/or an urge to cough (UTC) by finger pressure along the sternocleidomastoid and sternum, on the lower cervical or first dorsal vertebrae, the jugular notch as well as with maximum neck extension and flexion These mechanical actions were ineffective in controls but reproducibly evoked coughing or UTC in about 50% of chronic coughers; sternal and spinal responses were abolished temporarily by local cooling. The results may disclose a novel paradigm of cough sensitisation possibly involving central convergence of somatic and visceral neural stimuli.