The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
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Title:	The functional effects of barium and hypoxia on the in vitro respiratory activity
Author:	Xu, Gaofeng
View Online:	njit-etd2012-068 (ix, 21 pages ~ 0.5 MB pdf)
Department:	Federated Biological Sciences Department of NJIT and Rutgers-Newark
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Biology
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Hill, Andrew (Committee chair) Golowasch, Jorge P. (Committee member) O'Brien, Robert A. (Committee member)
Date:	2012-05
Keywords:	In vitro respiration Hypoxic respiratory response
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	The hypoxic respiratory response in mammals consists of a transit increase in the respiratory frequency (augmentation phase) followed by a decrease in frequency (depression phase). To understand how the central respiratory system contributes to this response, the in vitro transverse brainstem slice model is used, which contains the pre-Bötzinger Complex, which is responsible for respiratory rhythm generation. The in vitro experiments performed for this thesis provide evidence that external barium exposure alters respiratory activity and significantly increases (P<0.00 1) the voltage of tonic activity under control oxygen conditions (95% FO2). During severe hypoxia (0% FO2), respiratory tonic activity is significantly elevatedduring the depression phase (from 0.55 to 0.95, n=6, P<0.001) by external barium, presumablydue to the closing of K+ channels and a reduction in K+ conductance.