Author(s)

Elena I. Zakharova^1*, Zinaida I. Storozheva², Andrew T. Proshin³, Mikhail Yu. Monakov⁴, Alexander M. Dudchenko¹

¹Laboratory of General Pathology of Cardiorespiratory System, Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Moscow, Russia.
²Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology, Moscow, Russia.
³Laboratory of Functional Neurochemistry, P.K. Anokhin’ Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia.
⁴Laboratory of Functional Angioproteomic and Metabolomic, Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Moscow, Russia.

Moderate one-off hypobaric hypoxia (HBH) provokes preconditioning and prolongs the resistance (T, the time before apnoea) to severe hypobaric hypoxia (SHBH). Hypoxic preconditioning has therapeutic potential; however, the efficiency of hypoxic preconditioning varies greatly and the methods for its preliminary evaluation are absent in both animals and humans. This rodent study evaluates the dependence of SHBH resistance, initiated by HBH, on the rate of sensorimotor gating estimated in the model of the acoustic startle prepulse inhibition (PPI). A stable negative correlation was found between PPI and T. Low doses of the α7 nicotinic receptor agonist, PNU-282987 (PNU), and more pronouncedly dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (a PNU solvent), inverted the correlation between PPI and T from negative to positive. The DMSO and PNU effects were reversed at PPIs of 0.36 - 0.40 (36% - 40%). DMSO increased T values by 52.2% ± 9.7% in the region of lower HBH efficiency (PPI ≥ 0.40) and reduced it by 35.2% ± 9.3% in the region of higher HBH efficiency (PPI < 0.40). PNU reduced both DMSO effects. The involvement of the central cholinergic mechanisms was substantiated in both DMSO and PNU influences on HBH. In conclusion, 1) PPI can be used to predict the efficiency of hypoxic preconditioning and to study its mechanisms, 2) two opposite cholinergic PPI-related mechanisms participate in the preconditioning effects of HBH, 3) the sensitivity of rats to DMSO and PNU diverges when the PPI is 0.36 - 0.40, and 4) DMSO can enhance resistance to severe hypoxia in the region of the lower preconditioning efficiency of HBH at PPI ≥ 0.4.

Hypoxic Preсonditioning, PPI, Cholinergic Mechanisms, α7 Nicotinic Receptors

Zakharova, E. , Storozheva, Z. , Proshin, A. , Monakov, M. and Dudchenko, A. (2018) The Acoustic Sensorimotor Gating Predicts the Efficiency of Hypoxic Preconditioning. Participation of the Cholinergic System in This Phenomenon. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 11, 10-25. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2018.111002.