Effects of atropine on the responses of rapidly adapting pulmonary stretch receptors and dynamic lung compliance to sodium cyanide-induced hyperpnea.

The responses of tracheal pressure (PT) and heart rate (HR) to electrical stimulation of the peripheral cut-ends of the vagus nerves (10-15 V, 10 Hz, 1 ms) to activate both myelinated and non-myelinated fibers were examined before and after administration of atropine (1 mg/kg) in artificially ventilated, bilaterally vagotomized rabbits. Vagal stimulation caused an increase in PT and a decrease in HR. The PT response to vagal stimulation was completely blocked by atropine which significantly reduced the bradycardia evoked by the stimulation. In other series of experiments, we also examined the responses of rapidly adapting pulmonary stretch receptors (RARs) and dynamic lung compliance (Cdyn) to intravenous injections of sodium cyanide (NaCN, 20 and 30 micrograms/kg) before and after administration of atropine (1 mg/kg) in spontaneously breathing rabbits with vagal efferent activities. Administration of NaCN led to an increase in RAR activity associated with a decrease in Cdyn, and these two effects became more prominent by increasing the dose of NaCN. Atropine treatment did not significantly alter the responses of RARs and Cdyn to the injections of NaCN with different doses. These results suggest that the changes of RAR activity and Cdyn produced by hyperpnea due to NaCN administration are not influenced by the vagally mediated bronchoconstriction.