Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18440993›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of physiology2008

Selective lesion of retrotrapezoid Phox2b-expressing neurons raises the apnoeic threshold in rats.

Ana C Takakura, Thiago S Moreira, Ruth L Stornetta, Gavin H West, Justin M Gwilt, Patrice G Guyenet

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of physiology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
82citing papers in PubMed
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

82 citing papers in PubMed, 159 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Functional modulation of retrotrapezoid neurons drives fentanyl-induced respiratory depression.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Revisiting the Role of Serotonin in Sleep-Disordered Breathing.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
  11. Article
  12. eLife · 2022
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. KGlia · 2021
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Ana C TakakuraUniversity of Virginia Health System, PO Box 800735, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0735, USA. pgg@virginia.edu
Thiago S Moreira
Ruth L Stornetta
Gavin H West
Justin M Gwilt
Patrice G Guyenet
University of Virginia · USUniversidade Federal de São Paulo · BRUniversity of Virginia Health System · US

Funding

Retrotrapezoid nucleus and central chemoreceptionR01HL074011 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE · PI GUYENET, PATRICE G. · 2003 to 2018
$6.6M
Organization of Central Sympathic PathwaysR01HL028785 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE · PI STORNETTA, RUTH L · 1985 to 2020
$5.0M
ORGANIZATION OF CENTRAL SYMPATHETIC PATHWAYSR37HL028785 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE · PI GUYENET, PATRICE G. · 1999 to 2008
$3.0M
NHLBI NIH HHS HL 28785NHLBI NIH HHS HL74011NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL028785NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL074011NHLBI NIH HHS R37 HL028785
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Injection of the neurotoxin saporin-substance P (SSP-SAP) into the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) attenuates the central chemoreflex in rats. Here we ask whether these deficits are caused by the destruction of a specific type of interneuron that expresses the transcription factor Phox2b and is non-catecholaminergic (Phox2b(+)TH(-)). We show that RTN contains around 2100 Phox2b(+)TH(-) cells. Injections of SSP-SAP into RTN destroyed Phox2b(+)TH(-) neurons but spared facial motoneurons, catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons and the ventral respiratory column caudal to the facial motor nucleus. Two weeks after SSP-SAP, the apnoeic threshold measured under anaesthesia was unchanged when fewer than 57% of the Phox2b(+)TH(-) neurons were destroyed. However, destruction of 70 +/- 3.5% of these cells was associated with a dramatic rise of the apnoeic threshold (from 5.6 to 7.9% end-expiratory P(CO(2))). In anaesthetized rats with unilateral lesions of around 70% of the Phox2b(+)TH(-) neurons, acute inhibition of the contralateral intact RTN with muscimol instantly eliminated phrenic nerve discharge (PND) but normal PND could usually be elicited by strong peripheral chemoreceptor stimulation (8/12 rats). Muscimol had no effect in rats with an intact contralateral RTN. In conclusion, the destruction of the Phox2b(+)TH(-) neurons is a plausible cause of the respiratory deficits caused by injection of SSP-SAP into RTN. Two weeks after toxin injection, 70% of these cells must be killed to cause a severe attenuation of the central chemoreflex under anaesthesia. The loss of an even greater percentage of these cells would presumably be required to produce significant breathing deficits in the awake state.

Indexed as

ReflexAnimalsApneaDifferential ThresholdHomeodomain ProteinsMaleMedulla OblongataNeuronsRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyTranscription FactorsHomeodomain ProteinsNBPhox proteinTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID18440993
PMCPMC2517201
OpenAlexW2157170162

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.