EFFECTS OF PRENATAL PASSIVE SMOKING ON CHOLINERGIC MECHANISMS SIMULATION RESPIRATORY RHYTHM IN NEONATAL RATS (IN VITRO)

Abstract

Both active and passive smoking increases the risk of sudden death of the newborn. Researchers are actively studying the effect of chronic nicotine infusion, as one of the leading neurogenic factors of tobacco smoke on cholinergic mechanisms of respiratory control. In this paper, using a fumigation model of passive smoking, tested the assumption that second-hand smoke that is transferred in the prenatal period, changes the expression mediated by nicotinic receptors activating influence of the cholinergic system of the brain stem to the processes of the respiratory activity of the neural network generation. It is found that the fumigation of tobacco smoke pregnant rats decreases their progeny respiratory sensitivity to the action of a neural network and exogenous nicotine increases cholinergic part tonic effect mediated by nicotinic cholinergic receptors in the modulation of respiratory rhythm. The study uses data obtained from 40 brain stem-spinal cord preparations (BSP) of the newborn rats. The experimental group was 22, and the control group was 18 newborn rats. In the processing of neurograms, the duration of the cycle of respiratory activity, duration, and the amplitude of inspiratory discharges were measured. To describe the peaks of the respiratory discharge spectrum, the following parameters were used: the peak frequency and the peak power spectral density of the peak. Analysis of the statistical differences was made using Student’s t-test for mean values. Differences were considered significant at p<0.05. Our results confirm the presence for exogenous nicotine of powerful activating effect on the generation frequency, amplitude and duration of inspiratory discharges of the BSP of newborn rats in the control group. It is established that an increase in the amplitude of the inspiratory discharges is accompanied by an increase in the spectral power density in the mid-frequency range of their spectrograms. In the BSP of the brain of newborn rats with prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke, exogenous nicotine increased only the frequency of inspiratory discharge generation. The amplitude of the inspiratory discharges and the power of the mid-frequency oscillations under the influence of exogenous nicotine in the BSP of the experimental group was significantly reduced. Mecamylamine, a selective blocker of nAChR, added to the perfusate of the BSP of the control group, caused a significant increase in the amplitude and duration of the inspiratory discharges, without significantly changing the duration of the respiratory cycle. At the same time, in BSP of newborn rats subjected to prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke, nAChR blockade resulted in an increase in the duration of the respiratory cycle. Thus, our study showed that fumigation of pregnant rats with tobacco smoke reduces the sensitivity of the respiratory neural network to the action of exogenous nicotine in early postnatal period and increases the involvement of tonic cholinergic effect mediated by nicotinic cholinergic receptors in modulating the respiratory rhythm.