Aspects of purinergic modulation of the central neural control of autonomic and respiratory functions in the NTS of mice exposed to sustained hypoxia

• Grant number: 24/16948-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Program to Stimulate Scientific Vocations
• Start date: February 17, 2025
• End date: April 05, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Benedito Honorio Machado
• Grantee: Julia Lopes Granato
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In situations of sustained hypoxia (SH), peripheral chemoreceptors are stimulated and trigger autonomic and respiratory responses to bring the levels of O2 pressure in arterial blood back to normal. Stimulation of peripheral chemoreceptors, located in the carotid body, promotes the activation of neural endings whose afferents make the first synapse with neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), in the dorsal aspect of the brainstem. In this context, the contribution of adenosine and astrocytes to the changes that occur in synaptic processing in the NTS in response to the challenge of sustained hypoxia will be evaluated through the antagonism of adenosine purinergic receptors (A2A and A2B) or the metabolic inhibition of astrocytes (Fluoroacetate) in brainstem slices of mice exposed to sustained hypoxia.