The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays pivotal roles in the regulation of cardiovascular and renal functions to maintain the fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Experimental studies have demonstrated a locally expressed RAS in the carotid body, which is functional significant in the effect of angiotensin peptides on the regulation of the activity of peripheral chemoreceptors and the chemorefle...

BACKGROUND Exogenous adenosine has been shown to increase muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), blood pressure, heart rate, and ventilation in conscious humans, effects attributed to peripheral chemoreceptor activation. METHODS AND RESULTS To determine whether endogenous adenosine has similar effects and whether they are mediated through chemoreceptor activation, we examined the effects o...

Experiments in recent years have revealed labile electrophysiological and neurochemical phenotypes in primary afferent neurons exposed to specific stimulus conditions associated with the development of chronic pain. These studies collectively demonstrate that the mechanisms responsible for functional plasticity are primarily mediated by novel neuroimmune interactions involving circulating and r...

Arterial and airway chemoreceptors respond to acute hypoxia by depolarizing, thereby activating voltage-gated Ca channels and so permitting Ca entry to trigger transmitter release. Following periods of prolonged hypoxia, these cells undergo a form of remodelling which involves altered expression of ion channels. Here, we use microspectrofluorimetric recordings of voltage-gated Ca entry (activat...

The behaviour of lobsters preying on live mussels (Mytilus edulis) was observed before and after chemosensory or chemosensory-mechanosensory deafferentation of different sensory appendages. Deafferentation of the antennules, leg tips, or maxillipeds (but not the carapace or proximal leg segments) interfered with feeding performance by causing an increase in the time necessary to crush a mussel ...