Electrical stimulation of the hypoglossal (XII) nerve has been demonstrated as an effective approach to treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) The physiological effects of conventional modes of stimulation (i.e., genioglossus activation or whole XII nerve stimulation), however, have yielded inconsistent and only partial alleviations of hypopneic or apneic events. While selective stimulation of ...

Hypoglossal (XII) motoneurons (MNs) contribute to diverse behaviors. Their innervation of the genioglossus muscle, a tongue protruder, plays a critical role in maintaining upper airway patency during breathing. Indeed, reduced activity in these motoneurons is implicated in sleep related disorders of breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The excitability of these MNs is modulated by m...

My colleague Fridolf Kudlien in his recent paper "Empticius servus __ .n (Historia 35 [1986] p. 248) has remarked on the fact that in the ancient slave-market youth was at a premium. He points out that the manganes applied vegetable salves to arrest puberty and quotes Pliny N.H. XXI 170. The growth of pubic hair was arrested (N.H. XXX 41). The following Greeklarallels attest to the widespread b...

Fast respiratory rhythms include medium- (MFO) and high-frequency oscillations (HFO), which are much faster than the fundamental breathing rhythm. According to previous studies, HFO is characterized by high coherence (Coh) in phrenic (Ph) nerve activity, thereby providing a means of distinguishing between these two types of oscillations. Changes in Coh between the Ph and hypoglossal (XII) nerve...

Collagen XII has been postulated to organize the extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture of dense connective tissues such as the periodontal ligament (PDL) and skin. The objective of this study was to test this hypothesis in transgenic mice carrying a dominant interference mutation of collagen XII. The truncated alpha1(XII) collagen minigene construct MXIINC3(-), driven by the mouse alpha2(I) c...

In obstructive sleep apnea patients, elevated activity of the lingual muscles during wakefulness protects the upper airway against occlusions. A possibly related form of respiratory neuroplasticity is present in rats exposed to acute and chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). Since rats exposed to CIH have increased density of noradrenergic terminals and increased α(1)-adrenoceptor immunoreactivit...

Although the excellent review on the contact system by Colman and Schmaier1 that appeared recently in Blood examines the subject in great detail, there are some points that deserve further discussion. A major item in that review is the novel observation, described recently in Blood,2 that prekallikrein (PK) becomes activated when it is bound to high molecular weight kininogen (HK) on endothelia...

RATIONALE Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) adapt to the anatomical vulnerability of their upper airway by generating increased activity in upper airway-dilating muscles during wakefulness. Norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) mediate, through α₁-adrenergic and 5-HT₂A receptors, a wake-related excitatory drive to upper airway motoneurons. In patients with OSA, this drive is necess...