Effects of metabolism and anesthesia on pulmonary ventilation

¹ Institute of hysiology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland

Pulmonary ventilation and oxygen consumption of three groups of cats, anesthetized, decerebrated and anesthetized decerebrate, were measured before and after metabolic stimulation by 2:4-dinitrophenol. It was found that anesthesia does not alter quantitatively the respiratory response to an increase in metabolism. Comparison with earlier data shows that a unit increase in oxygen consumption produces a similar response in ventilation in man, dogs and cats, anesthetized or normal. This finding supports the theory that the muscles embody ‘metaboreceptors’ sensitive to metabolic activity which stimulate respiration in exercise. It is postulated that the classical ‘blood-gas’ control of breathing is of minor importance under normal conditions and that the variations in ventilation required during light and moderate exercise are brought about by neural mechanism only.