Do changes in the coupling between respiratory and sympathetic activities contribute to neurogenic hypertension?

1. It is well known that respiration markedly modulates the sympathetic nervous system. Interactions between pontine and medullary neurons involved in the control of sympathetic and respiratory functions are the main mechanism underlying the respiratory related oscillations in sympathetic nerve activity. 2. Recently, in rats treated with chronic intermittent hypoxia, we demonstrated that alterations in respiratory pattern may drive increased sympathetic outflow and hence the development of systemic hypertension. These experiments, performed in the in situ working heart-brain stem preparation, raise the possibility that enhanced central coupling between respiratory and sympathetic activities could be a potential mechanism underpinning the development and/or the maintenance of neurogenic hypertension. 3. In the present review, we discuss the neural basis of the enhanced entrainment between respiratory and sympathetic neurons in the brain stem that can be induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia and the possible implications of these mechanisms in the genesis of sympathetic overactivity and, consequently, hypertension.