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Absence of long-term modulation of ventilation by dead-space loading during moderate exercise in humans

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Abstract

The stability of arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) during moderate exercise in humans suggests a CO2-linked control that matches ventilation (V̇E) to pulmonary CO2 clearance (V̇CO2). An alternative view is that V̇E is subject to long-term modulation (LTM) induced by “hyperpnoeic history”. LTM has been reported with associative conditioning via dead-space (VD) loading in exercising goats (Martin and Mitchell 1993). Whether this prevails in humans is less clear, which may reflect differences in study design (e.g. subject familiarisation; VD load; whether or not V̇E is expressed relative to V̇CO2; choice of PaCO2 estimator). After familiarisation, nine healthy males performed moderate constant-load cycle-ergometry (20 W-80 W-20 W; <lactate threshold, θL): day 1, pre-conditioning, n=3; day 2, conditioning (VD=1.59 l, doubling V̇E at 20 W and 80 W), n=8 with 10 min rest between tests; and, after 1 h rest, post-conditioning, n=3. Gas exchange was determined breath-by-breath. Post-conditioning, neither the transient [phase 1, phase 2 (Ф1, Ф2)] nor steady-state V̇E exercise responses, nor their proportionality to V̇CO2, differed from pre-conditioning. For post-conditioning trial 1, steady-state V̇E was 28.1 (4.7) l min−1 versus 29.1 (3.8) l min−1 pre-conditioning, and mean-alveolar PCO2 (a validated PaCO2 estimator) was 5.53 (0.48) kPa [41.5 (3.6) mmHg] versus 5.59 (0.49) kPa [41.9 (3.7) mmHg]; the Ф1 V̇E increment was 4.2 (2.9) l min−1 versus 5.2 (1.9) l min−1; the Ф2 V̇E time-constant (τ) was 64.4 (24.1) s versus 64.1 (25.3) s; τV̇E/τV̇CO2 was 1.12 (0.04) versus 1.10 (0.04); and the V̇E-V̇CO2 slope was 21.7 (3.4) versus 21.2 (3.2). In conclusion, we could find no evidence to support ventilatory control during moderate exercise being influenced by hyperpnoeic history associated with dead-space loading in humans.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Brian J Whipp for his constructive discussions during the preparation of this manuscript. These experiments comply with the current laws of the United Kingdom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    A. J. Cathcart & S. A. Ward

  2. Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    A. J. Cathcart, N. Herrold, A. P. Turner & J. Wilson

  3. Department of Physical Education, Sport and Leisure Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ, UK

    A. P. Turner

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  1. A. J. Cathcart
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  2. N. Herrold
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  3. A. P. Turner
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  4. J. Wilson
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  5. S. A. Ward
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Correspondence to S. A. Ward.

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Cathcart, A.J., Herrold, N., Turner, A.P. et al. Absence of long-term modulation of ventilation by dead-space loading during moderate exercise in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 93, 411–420 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-004-1218-y

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