Chronic intermittent hypoxia alters density of aminergic terminals and receptors in the hypoglossal motor nucleus.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) adapt to the anatomical vulnerability of their upper airway by generating increased activity in upper airway-dilating muscles during wakefulness. Norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) mediate, through α₁-adrenergic and 5-HT₂A receptors, a wake-related excitatory drive to upper airway motoneurons. In patients with OSA, this drive is necessary to maintain their upper airway open. We tested whether chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), a major pathogenic factor of OSA, affects aminergic innervation of XII motoneurons that innervate tongue-protruding muscles in a manner that could alter their airway-dilatory action.

Objectives

To determine the impact of CIH on neurochemical markers of NE and 5-HT innervation of the XII nucle

SUBMITTER: Rukhadze I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3001268 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature