Frequency response of renal sympathetic nervous activity to aortic depressor nerve stimulation in the anaesthetized rat

The contribution of central baroreceptor reflex pathways to the dynamic regulation of sympathetic nervous activity (SNA) has not been properly examined thus far. The aim of this study was to characterize the transfer function of the central arc of the baroreceptor reflex (from baroreceptor afferent activity to SNA) over a wide range of frequencies. 2. In nine baroreceptor-intact and six sino-aortic baroreceptor-denervated rats anaesthetized with urethane, the renal SNA was recorded while applying sinusoidal stimulation to the aortic depressor nerve at 26 discrete frequencies ranging from 0.03 to 20 Hz. At each modulation frequency, cross-power spectrum analysis using a fast Fourier transform algorithm was performed between the stimulation and renal SNA, which provided the transfer function of the central arc. 3. In both baroreceptor intact and denervated rats, the transfer gain increased by a factor of about three between 0.03 and 1 Hz. At higher frequencies, the gain decreased but remained above the static gain of the system up to 12 Hz. There was a slight phase lead up to 0.4 Hz, then a continuously increasing phase lag. A three-element linear model satisfactorily described the experimental transfer function. The model combined a derivative gain (corner frequency approximately 0.15 Hz), an overdamped second-order low-pass filter (natural frequency approximately 1 Hz) and a fixed time delay (approximately 100 ms). 4. These results indicate that the central arc of the baroreceptor reflex shows derivative properties that are essential for compensating the filtering of fast oscillations of baroreceptor afferent activity and thus for the generation of fast oscillations of renal SNA (e.g. those related to the cardiac cycle).