The Effect of Carbon Monoxide Inhalation on Respiratory Activity and Blood Acid-Base Equilibrium of Normal and Chemoreceptorless Rabbits

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Abstract
The respiratory response of man and animals to inhalations of various concentrations of CO in air has been found to be variable by various investigators. At the end of last century, Haldane and Haldane and L. Smith (1935), in experiments conducted on themselves for the purpose of investigating the symptoms of CO poisoning in man, observed a distinct hyperpnea at blood CO saturations of 30 % or more. Haggard and Henderson (1921) and Wright (1936) noted a long lasting initial stimulation followed by depression of respiratory activity in unanesthetized dogs and anesthetized cats and rabbits, respectively, on the inhalation of CO in air. The reaction was entirely abolished on sectioning of the vagi (Haggard and Henderson, 1921) while merely the final depressive effect of CO inhalation was observed after the denervation of the chemoreceptor zones (Wright, 1936). On the other hand, Chiodi et al. (1941) failed to note any hyperpnea in man and in one unanesthetized dog on the inhalations of 0.1–0.35 % CO in air.