Activity of Medullary Respiratory Neurons Regenerating Axons into Peripheral Nerve Grafts in the Adult Rat

Autologous segments of peroneal nerve were implanted into the medulla oblongata of young adult rats. To investigate activity of medullary respiratory neurons regenerating axons into these grafts, unitary recording from single fibers was performed on small strands teased from the grafts. Spontaneous activity was observed in teased fibers in 7 of 9 grafts recorded 2-5 months after graft implantation. Respiratory-related activity was found in 5 of these grafts and could in most cases be characterized as emanating from medullary respiratory neurons other than cranial motoneurons. The integrity of the input connections to the neurons that had regenerated axons was manifested by normal patterns of unitary respiratory-related activity and by the responsiveness of firing patterns of these neurons to lung hyperinflation and to the inspiratory off-switch effect induced by vagal stimulation. No spontaneous respiratory activity was found in fibers teased from any of the 10 grafts studied 9-11 months after implantation. Five of these grafts were blind-ended as were the 2-5-month grafts; the other 5 grafts formed bridges between the medulla and C4 ventral horn. No physiologic evidence of functional connections with phrenic motoneurons was found in these bridge grafts. These experiments indicate that physiologic function is maintained or regained in some respiratory neurons regenerating axons into peripheral nerve grafts but that this function is not indefinitely preserved in the absence of functional reconnection with an appropriate target.