Vasomotor responses to decreased venous return: effects of cardiac deafferentation in humans

We compared haemodynamic and peripheral vasomotor responses to lower body negative pressure (LBNP) in cardiac transplant recipients who had undergone bicaval anastomoses, involving right atrial deafferentation (−RA), and the conventional procedure in which some atrial baroreceptor afferents remain intact (+RA). We measured mean forearm blood flow (FBF) responses using Doppler/ultrasound during three randomised trials involving 0 (baseline), −20 and −40 mmHg LBNP in 15 transplant recipients (9 −RA, 6 +RA) and in eight healthy matched controls. A significant effect of LBNP on FBF existed between control and transplant groups (P <0.05; two-way ANOVA). Mild LBNP (−20 mmHg), significantly decreased FBF by 29.7 ± 10.0% relative to baseline in +RA subjects (P <0.05), whereas the 17.7 ± 10.3% decrease in −RA subjects was not significant. In response to −40 mmHg LBNP, FBF significantly decreased in control (42.4 ± 4.6%, P <0.05) and +RA subjects (33.3 ± 11.4%, P <0.05) with no significant change in the −RA group. The response of systolic blood pressure (SBP) to −40 mmHg significantly differed between groups (P <0.05): −RA subjects decreased significantly (P <0.05) whilst the decrease in SBP in +RA subjects did not achieve significance and control subjects exhibited an increase. The heart rate increase from baseline to −40 mmHg was significantly attenuated in −RA relative to controls and the +RA group (P <0.05). The present study demonstrates that atrial deafferentation impairs reflex vasomotor control of the circulation in response to low- and high-level LBNP, indicating that atrial deafferentation may contribute to abnormal arterial pressure regulation.