Blood pressure is controlled by several feedback mechanisms. The fastest one baroreceptor reflex (baroreflex) can be defined as the biological neural control system responsible for the short-term blood pressure regulation. From modeling perspective the baroreflex feedback control system consists of three parts (Fig. 1): • The afferent part where the arterial pressure is being read out, transduc...

This study was designed to determine baroreflex control of heart rate (HR) to hypotensive and hypertensive stimuli during the early follicular (EF), preovulation (PreOV), and midluteal (ML) phases of the menstrual cycle and to test the hypothesis that cardiovagal reflex responses to hypertensive stimuli would be altered depending on the plasma estradiol levels in healthy women. In addition, the...

Lohmeier TE, Iliescu R. Lowering of blood pressure by chronic suppression of central sympathetic outflow: insight from prolonged baroreflex activation. J Appl Physiol 113: 1652–1658, 2012. First published July 12, 2012; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00552.2012.— Device-based therapy for resistant hypertension by electrical activation of the carotid baroreflex is currently undergoing active clinical ...

Spontaneous baroreflex control of pulse interval (PI) was assessed in healthy volunteers under thermoneutral and heat stress conditions. Subjects rested in the supine position with their lower legs in a water bath at 34 degrees C. Heat stress was imposed by increasing the bath temperature to 44 degrees C. Arterial blood pressure (Finapres), PI (ECG), esophageal and skin temperature, and stroke ...

It has been established that vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) benefits patients and/or animals with heart failure. However, the impact of VNS on sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) remains unknown. In this study, we investigated how vagal afferent stimulation (AVNS) impacts baroreflex control of SNA. In 12 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats, we controlled the pressure in isolated bilateral carotid sinu...

Both whole body heat stress and stimulation of muscle metabolic receptors activate muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) through nonbaroreflex pathways. In addition to stimulating muscle metaboreceptors, exercise has the potential to increase internal temperature. Although we and others report that passive whole body heating does not alter the gain of the arterial baroreflex, it is unknown w...

This study reports the effects of angiotensin II (ANG II), arginine vasopression (AVP), phenylephrine (PE), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on baroreflex control of heart rate in the presence and absence of the area postrema (AP) in conscious mice. In intact, sham-lesioned mice, baroreflex-induced decreases in heart rate due to increases in arterial pressure with intravenous infusions of ANG II ...

Alpha-2 adrenoreceptor stimulation profoundly augments baroreflex-mediated bradycardia presumably through parasympathetic activation. We tested the hypothesis that endogenous alpha-2 adrenergic tone mediates a similar response. In 10 healthy men (age: 33+/-3 years; body mass index: 24+/-1.3 kg/m(2)), we determined baroreflex control of heart rate and sympathetic traffic after ingestion of the s...

In heart failure (HF), there is a reduced baroreflex sensitivity at rest, and during dynamic exercise there is enhanced muscle metaboreflex activation (MRA). However, how the arterial baroreflex modulates HR during exercise is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (SBRS) is attenuated during exercise in HF and that MRA further depresses SBRS. In seven conscio...

Takayasu's aortitis is an arterial inflammatory disease of arteries of unknown etiology. Fainting is a common symptom and has been attributed to ypersensitivity of the baroreflex. We studied baroreflex sensitivity in 11 patients with Takayasu's aortitis and compared it with that of eight control subjects of comparable age. Baroreflex sensitivity was assessed by determining the slope of a regres...