Differential Control of Sympathetic Outflow in Young Humans

What drives variability in muscle sympathetic nerve activity among healthy individuals? Associate Editor Nisha Charkoudian (U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine) explores this central question in a new interview with lead author Philip Millar (University of Guelph) and content expert Craig Steinback (University of Alberta) about the work by Incognito et al. Millar and co-authors identified subpopulations within muscle sympathetic single unit nerve fibers that display opposite responses to typical sympathoexcitatory stressors-- lower body negative pressure and an exercise stimulus. The authors uncovered that we can recruit, and de-recruit, individual muscle sympathetic nerve fibers in response to these stressors. What are the potential clinical implications for patients with orthostatic intolerance or hypertension? Listen to find out.

 

Anthony V. Incognito, Connor J. Doherty, Massimo Nardone, Jordan B. Lee, Karambir Notay, Jeremy D. Seed, and Philip J. Millar Evidence for differential control of muscle sympathetic single units during mild sympathoexcitation in young, healthy humans Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published December 17, 2018. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00675.2018