Role of the carotid body in hyperpnea of moderate exercise in goats.

In the present study the ventilatory response to exercise was measured in goats before and after carotid body excision (CBE) (n = 7) or sham operation (n = 1). Nine-minute periods of moderate treadmill walking were carried out under three conditions: 4.8 kph, 0% grade during normoxia and hypoxia (arterial O2 tension approximately 43 Torr) and 4.8 kph, 5% grade during normoxia. Ventilatory variables, metabolic rate, and arterial blood acid-base and blood gases were measured at 30-s intervals for the first 3 min and again during the 6th and 9th min of exercise. In normal goats during exercise in normoxia, ventilation changed in proportion to changes in metabolic rate resulting in arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2) and arterial pH (pHa) homeostasis throughout exercise. CBE resulted in nearly equivalent hypoventilation during steady-state rest and exercise (delta PaCO2 approximately equal to 5--7 Torr) during normoxia and loss of the positive interaction between hypoxia and exercise. There was also a significant disruption of PaCO2-pHa homeostasis during the first 30 s of exercise after CBE when PaCO2 was 3 Torr below rest and pHa was 0.03 units above rest. Our data indicate: 1) that the carotid chemoreceptors may contribute a similar proportional drive to breathe during rest and exercise; 2) that transient hyperventilation at the onset of exercise after CBE may indicate an important neural drive to breathe that is normally damped by intact peripheral chemoreceptors; and 3) that the mechanism linking ventilation to CO2 production remains intact after CBE.