Abstract
INTRODUCTIONSUDDEN removal of carbon dioxide from the gas stream of the unidirectionally, artificially ventilated chicken results in the initiation of apnea in approximately 0.5 seconds (Peterson and Fedde, 1968). It was considered possible that blood, equilibrated with the low air capillary PCO2, could be conveyed from the pulmonary capillaries to the aortic and carotid bodies in this short time and that these receptors might be involved in the apneic response. The purpose of this study was to obtain an estimate of the minimal circulation time of blood from the pulmonary artery to the left ventricle in an attempt to determine if the systemic arterial chemoreceptors could be involved in the rapid respiratory response to airway CO2 removal.METHODSFive adult, male Single Comb White Leghorn chickens, which had fasted for 12 hours, were used for our experiments. Each bird was restrained in dorsal recumbency and surgically anesthetized (approximately 30…
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