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Neuroendocrine Programming of the Respiratory Control System
Sponsored by the APS Respiration Section

Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from EMKA Technologies—Software and Hardware for Life Science Research—visit us at booth #1324

Sexual dimorphism of chemoreflexes and respiratory control in general has been acknowledged for years; however, owing to its apparent complexity, this aspect has been virtually dismissed or ignored. The recent interest in respiratory plasticity and the underlying mechanisms has brought many researchers to investigate how steroid hormones and various environmental conditions (e.g. stress) can have immediate and long lasting consequences on the way this vital homeostatic system develops and operates throughout life. The outcome of this research has revealed the immense impact that neuroendocrine factors can exert on the respiratory control system, and have opened new and promising research avenues as the fields of neuroendocrinology and respiratory control have begun to interact to address the question: “what role do hormones play in the function and programming of the respiratory control system”?

To favour discussions between researchers, we propose to bring together speakers that will address this question from a variety of angles ranging from sexual dimorphism on the impact of neural erythropoietin on the hypoxic ventilatory response (Dr Gassman, Switzerland) to the effects of testosterone on respiratory control during sleep in human subjects (Dr. Mateika, USA). These speakers were selected for their ability to approach this question with different approaches including neuroanatomy and electrophysiology in animal models (Drs Kinkead, Canada), in vivo study of peripheral chemoreceptor function in newborn mammals (Dr. Joseph, Canada), to pharmaceutical tools in human subjects (Dr. Mateika, USA) and genetic engineering in mice (Dr. Gassman). In addition to presenting their most recent results, each speaker will put their work in a broader perspective to favour interactions between disciplines and help generate new ideas. This session should be of interest to both clinicians and basic scientists, and given the multidisciplinary nature of this topic we anticipate that, in addition to the respiratory section, this symposium will be of interest to members of other APS sections such as cardiovascular, central nervous system, neural control and autonomic regulation, endocrinology and metabolism.