Brainstem C1 neurons mediate heart failure decompensation and mortality during acute salt loading.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) is an emerging epidemic worldwide. Despite advances in treatment, the morbidity and mortality rate of HF remain high, and the global prevalence continues to rise. Common clinical features of HF include cardiac sympathoexcitation, disordered breathing, and kidney dysfunction; kidney dysfunction strongly contributes to sodium retention and fluid overload, leading to poor outcomes of HF patients.

Carotid bodies mediate glial cell activation and neuroinflammation in the NTS following long-term intermittent hypoxia: role in cardiorespiratory dysfunction.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), the main feature of obstructive sleep apnea, heightened chemosensory discharges of the carotid body (CB), which contributes to potentiate the ventilatory hypoxic response and elicits hypertension. We aimed to determine: 1) whether the persistence of cardiorespiratory alterations found in long-term CIH depend on the inputs from the CB and, 2) in what extension the activation of glial cells and neuroinflammation in the caudal region of the nucleus of the Solitary Tract (NTS) requires functional CB chemosensory activity. To evaluate these hypotheses, we exposed male mice to CIH for 60 days.

Superoxide dismutase 2 deficiency is associated with enhanced central chemoreception in mice: Implications for breathing regulation.

Aims: In mammals, central chemoreception plays a crucial role in the regulation of breathing function in both health and disease conditions. Recently, a correlation between high levels of superoxide anion (O) in the Retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a main brain chemoreceptor area, and enhanced central chemoreception has been found in rodents. Interestingly, deficiency in superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) expression, a pivotal antioxidant enzyme, has been linked to the development/progression of several diseases.

Chemogenetic inhibition of NTS astrocytes normalizes cardiac autonomic control and ameliorate hypertension during chronic intermittent hypoxia.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by recurrent episodes of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), which has been linked to the development of sympathoexcitation and hypertension. Furthermore, it has been shown that CIH induced inflammation and neuronal hyperactivation in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), a key brainstem region involved in sympathetic and cardiovascular regulation. Since several studies have proposed that NTS astrocytes may mediate neuroinflammation, we aimed to determine the potential contribution of NTS-astrocytes on the pathogenesis of CIH-induced hypertension.

Role of Peripheral Chemoreceptors on Enhanced Central Chemoreflex Drive in Nonischemic Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF) is a prevalent disease in elderly population. Potentiation of the ventilatory chemoreflex drive plays a pivotal role in disease progression, at least in part, through their contribution to the generation/maintenance of breathing disorders. Peripheral and central chemoreflexes are mainly regulated by carotid body (CB) and the retrotrapezoid nuclei (RTN), respectively.