P7.8 Role of cAMP dependent effectors and voltage gated calcium channels in the rat rostral ventrolateral medulla and in the spinal cord in the tonic and reflex control of arterial pressure in hypertension and normotension

Abstract

It is clear that a large number of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators act at G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) influencing the activity of presympathetic neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). The role of some of these GPCR play in the RVLM on the tonic and reflex control of arterial pressure has been investigated. For example, activation of muscarinic receptors increases arterial pressure and enhances the baroreceptor reflex whilst attenuating and inhibiting the chemoreceptor and somatosympathetic reflexes respectively [1] whereas activation of somatostatin receptors evokes profound hypotension and attenuates the somatosympathetic and chemoreceptor reflexes but does not alter sympathetic baroreflex function [2].