Ventilatory effects of potassium during hyperoxia, normoxia and hypoxia in anaesthetized cats.

Anaesthetized cats breathing 100% O2, air or 14% O2 received intravenous infusions of KCl (0.075 mmol/kg body weight per 30 sec). Ventilation increased significantly during the infusion and returned to control values within 10 sec of its completion. The ventilatory response to acute changes in arterial plasma potassium concentration is not abolished by hyperoxia. Some of these findings have already been briefly communicated (Band et al., in press).