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Vagal tone regulates cardiac shunts during activity and at low temperatures in the South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus

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Abstract

The undivided ventricle of non-crocodilian reptiles allows for intracardiac admixture of oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood returning via the atria from the systemic circuit and the lungs. The distribution of blood flow between the systemic and pulmonary circuits may vary, based on differences between systemic and pulmonary vascular conductances. The South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus, has a single pulmonary artery, innervated by the left vagus. Activity in this nerve controls pulmonary conductance so that left vagotomy abolishes this control. Experimental left vagotomy to abolish cardiac shunting had no effect on long-term survival and failed to identify a functional role in determining metabolic rate, growth or resistance to food deprivation. Accordingly, the present investigation sought to evaluate the extent to which cardiac shunt patterns are actively controlled during changes in body temperature and activity levels. We compared hemodynamic parameters between intact and left-vagotomized rattlesnakes held at different temperatures and subjected to enforced physical activity. Increased temperature and enforced activity raised heart rate, cardiac output, pulmonary and systemic blood flow in both groups, but net cardiac shunt was reversed in the vagotomized group at lower temperatures. We conclude that vagal control of pulmonary conductance is an active mechanism regulating cardiac shunts in C. durissus.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Butantan Institute for providing, and Carlinhos and Joniel for taking care of snakes used in this study; R Labouriau and JR Knaub for statistical help; JE Carvalho and LH Florindo for valued comments on previous versions of the manuscript. PB Dickinson, JM Osbourne and J Petrucci were great motivators throughout the study. This study was funded by the Fundação de Amparo à pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico through the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Fisiologia Comparada. RF received a stipend from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior through the Ciência sem Fronteiras programme, CACL had financial support from FAPESP, ASA from CNPq, EWT was supported both by FAPESP and by CNPq through the Ciência sem Fronteiras programme and TW was supported by the Danish Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, State University of São Paulo (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

    Renato Filogonio, Edwin W. Taylor & Augusto S. Abe

  2. Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Renato Filogonio & Tobias Wang

  3. School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Edwin W. Taylor

  4. Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil

    Cléo A. C. Leite

Authors
  1. Renato Filogonio
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  2. Tobias Wang
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  3. Edwin W. Taylor
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  4. Augusto S. Abe
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  5. Cléo A. C. Leite
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Correspondence to Renato Filogonio.

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Communicated by H. V. Carey.

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Filogonio, R., Wang, T., Taylor, E.W. et al. Vagal tone regulates cardiac shunts during activity and at low temperatures in the South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus . J Comp Physiol B 186, 1059–1066 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1008-y

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