Cardiac output and its distribution during diving in the rat.

The diving response was produced by submerging the head of the unanesthetized rat for 60 s, while it was confined in a mesh-wired cone. Heart rate and cardiac output decreased by 73% and 74% from the predive values, respectively, indicating insignificant change in stroke volume. Central systemic arterial blood pressure rose by 22% during diving and a fourfold increase in total peripheral resistance was observed. Blood flow to the coronary, cerebral, and bronchial circulations remained unchanged while a 95% reduction in the intestine and the spleen, a 97% reduction in the kidney, and greater than 99% reduction in the tail and skin were observed during diving. The blood flow reduction from predive values ranged from 50% for liver and skeletal muscle to 75% for the adrenals and 65% for the diaphragm. The redistribution of the drastically reduced cardiac output during head immersion in the rat is similar to that reported for diving mammals. It is suggested that the rat may serve as a useful cardiovascular model for further studies of the diving response in mammals.