Impact of lung inflation cycle frequency on rat muscle and skin sympathetic activity recorded using suction electrodes

Microneurography has been used in humans to study sympathetic activity supplying targets within skeletal muscle and skin. Comparable animal studies are relatively few, probably due to the technical demands of traditional fibre picking techniques. Here we apply a simple suction electrode technique to record cutaneous (CVC) and muscle (MVC) vasoconstrictor activities and describe and investigate the basis of the frequency dependence of lung inflation related modulation. Hindlimb MVC and CVC activities were recorded concurrently. The magnitude of MVC and CVC activities at the lung inflation cycle frequency was significantly less at 2.0 Hz than at lung inflation cycle frequencies ≤ 1.0 Hz. As lung inflation cycle frequency was increased the coherence between lung inflation cycle or BP and MVC or CVC waveforms decreased. Consistent with the hypothesis that much of the coherence between lung inflation cycle and nerve activity waveforms is secondary to oscillating baroreceptor activity attributable to BP waves, partialization with the BP waveform significantly decreased the coherence between lung inflation cycle and nerve waveforms, and there was an absence of coherence between these waveforms following sinus and aortic denervation. Our data extend findings from other laboratories and establish the value of a suction electrode technique for recording MVC and CVC activities. Furthermore, our observations describe the rates of positive pressure ventilation that avoid strong and regular gating of sympathetic activity.