Abstract
Bötzinger Complex (BötC) post-inspiratory (post-I) neurons are part of ventral respiratory group and are involved in the control of respiratory phase duration and upper airway resistance. The post-I neurons are immature at birth and the changes in their electrophysiological properties during the post-natal development were not yet investigated. We investigated the respiratory pattern, the electrophysiological properties and phenotype of BötC post-I neurons on different post-natal days [neonatal, P1-5 (n=10); intermediate, P6-15 (n=19); juvenile, P15-21 (n=29); adult, P22-40 (n=35)] in the in situ preparation of rats. Age-dependent increase in both duration of expiration and post-inspiration over the 14 days of life was observed. Similarly, the post-I increase in the upper airway resistance recorded from subglottal pressure also changed from a small with a short duration, to a pattern of sharp rise and longer duration (> 14 days). In the glicinergic and glutamatergic BötC post-I neurons, burst activity, low threshold spike and low-voltage calcium current also increased during the development. Changes in subthreshold responses were also observed, including an increase in input resistance and excitability. Rheobase current, spike frequency adaptation and action potential duration decreased during post-natal development. We conclude that the post-natal maturation of the respiratory pattern and respiratory control of upper airway resistance in rats are associated to major changes in the electrophysiological properties of BötC post-I neurons. Support: FAPESP
Published Version
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