Respiratory activity in neonatal rats

In neonatal animals in vitro preparations have been employed widely to study the central control of respiration. These preparations have limitations in that reflex afferent inputs and kinesiological studies cannot be performed. Here, we describe an alternative in situ experimental model for studying both peripheral and central control of the respiratory system in neonatal rats. Using technology based on adult mammals, we introduce an intra-arterially perfused working heart–brainstem preparation (WHBP) that permits studies on eupnoeic respiration in neonatal rats from within a few hours of birth. Using this preparation we demonstrate a three-phase respiratory rhythm as revealed by the activity in phrenic and recurrent laryngeal motor nerves, the respiratory modulation of laryngeal resistance and the firing patterns of respiratory neurones recorded from the ventrolateral medulla. We conclude that the neonatal rat WHBP is an in situ preparation because it produces a respiratory rhythm similar to that of adult in vivo mammal preparations but distinct from in vitro preparations.