Identification of multiple hypoxia-independent triggers of upper airway long-term facilitation in a rat model of upper airway motor plasticity.

ABSTRACT: The respiratory control system can exhibit neuronal plasticity following exposures to repetitive respiratory challenges. For example, repeated obstructive apneas can trigger a form of respiratory plasticity that results in the enhancement of inspiratory hypoglossal (XII) motoneuron activity. This increase in respiratory motor output is known as hypoglossal long-term facilitation (hLTF). In adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, we demonstrate that hLTF can also be triggered in the absence of repeated apneas by intermittent optogenetic stimulation of locus coeruleus (LC) neurons, or through pharmacological activation of adenosine-A2a-receptors at the level of brainstem XII motor pool. Both our pharmacological and optogenetic approaches that trigger hLTF require noradrenergic signaling through acti

SUBMITTER: Lui S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11895832 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature