Locus ceruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons are critical in generating alertness. In addition to inducing cortical arousal, the LC also orchestrates changes in accompanying autonomic system function that compliments increased attention, such as during stress, excitation, and/or exposure to averse or novel stimuli. Although the association between arousal and increased heart rate is well accepted, the neurobiological link between the LC and parasympathetic neurons that control heart rate has not been identified. In this study, we test directly whether activation of noradrenergic neurons in the LC influences brainstem parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons (CVNs). CVNs were identified in transgenic mice that express channel-rhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in LC tyrosine hydroxylase neurons. Photoactivation evoked a rapid depolarization, increased firing, and excitatory inward currents in ChR2-expressing neurons in the LC. Photostimulation of LC neurons did not alter excitatory currents, but increased inhibitory neurotransmission to CVNs. Optogenetic activation of LC neurons increased the frequency of isolated glycinergic IPSCs by 27 ± 8% (p= 0.003,n= 26) and augmented GABAergic IPSCs in CVNs by 21 ± 5% (p= 0.001,n= 26). Inhibiting α1, but not α2, receptors blocked the evoked responses. Inhibiting β1 receptors prevented the increase in glycinergic, but not GABAergic, IPSCs in CVNs. This study demonstrates LC noradrenergic neurons inhibit the brainstem CVNs that generate parasympathetic activity to the heart. This inhibition of CVNs would increase heart rate and risks associated with tachycardia. The receptors activated within this pathway, α1 and/or β1 receptors, are targets for clinically prescribed antagonists that promote slower, cardioprotective heart rates during heightened vigilant states.

Recent work has shown that oxytocin is involved in more than lactation and uterine contraction. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) contains neuroendocrine neurons that control the release of hormones, including vasopressin and oxytocin. Other populations of PVN neurons do not release hormones, but rather project to and release neurotransmitters onto other neurons in the CNS involved in fluid retention, thermoregulation, sexual behavior and responses to stress. Activation of oxytocin receptors can be cardioprotective and reduces the adverse cardiovascular consequences of anxiety and stress, yet how oxytocin can affect heart rate and cardiac function is unknown. While anatomical work has shown the presence of peptides, including oxytocin, in the projections from the PVN to parasympathetic nuclei, electrophysiological studies to date have only demonstrated release of glutamate and activation of fast ligand gated receptors in these pathways. In this study, using rats, we directly show, using sniffer CHO cells that express oxytocin receptors and the Ca²⁺ indicator R-GECO, that optogenetic activation of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) expressing PVN fibers in the brainstem activates oxytocin receptors in the dorsomotor nucleus of the vagus (DMNV). We also demonstrate that while a single photoactivation of PVN terminals only activates glutamatergic receptors in brainstem cardiac vagal neurons (CVNs), neurons that dominate the neural control of heart rate, both the paired pulse facilitation, and sustained enhancement of glutamate release in this pathway is mediated by activation of oxytocin receptors. Our results provide direct evidence that a pathway from the PVN likely releases oxytocin and enhances short-term plasticity of this critical autonomic connection.

Autonomic control of heart rate is mediated by cardioinhibitory parasympathetic cholinergic neurons located in the brainstem and stimulatory sympathetic noradrenergic neurons. During embryonic development the survival and cholinergic phenotype of brainstem autonomic neurons is promoted by brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We now provide evidence that BDNF regulates heart rate by a mechanism involving increased brainstem cardioinhibitory parasympathetic activity. Mice with a BDNF haploinsufficiency exhibit elevated resting heart rate, and infusion of BDNF intracerebroventricularly reduces heart rate in both wild‐type and BDNF+/− mice. The atropine‐induced elevation of heart rate is diminished in BDNF+/− mice and is restored by BDNF infusion, whereas the atenolol‐induced decrease in heart rate is unaffected by BDNF levels, suggesting that BDNF signaling enhances parasympathetic tone which is diminished with BDNF haploinsufficiency. Whole‐cell recordings from pre‐motor cholinergic cardioinhibitory vagal neurons in the nucleus ambiguus indicate that BDNF haploinsufficiency reduces cardioinhibitory vagal neuron activity by increased inhibitory GABAergic and diminished excitatory glutamatergic neurotransmission to these neurons. Our findings reveal a previously unknown role for BDNF in the control of heart rate by a mechanism involving increased activation of brainstem cholinergic parasympathetic neurons image Mice with reduced BDNF levels exhibit elevated heart rate, and infusion of BDNF into the brain normalizes heart rate by a mechanism involving increased brainstem cardioinhibitory parasympathetic activity. Recordings from pre‐motor cholinergic cardioinhibitory vagal neurons (CVNs) in the nucleus ambiguus indicate that BDNF increases CVN activity by increasing excitatory glutamatergic and decreasing inhibitory GABAergic neurotransmission to these neurons. Perhaps factors that increase parasympathetic tone (e.g., exercise) reduce resting heart rate, in part, by a BDNF‐mediated mechanism.

Hypertension is a common outcome associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a prevalent yet poorly treated cardiovascular disease. Recent studies showed oxytocin (OXT), released from hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neurons, activates cardiac vagal neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMNX) and may blunt cardiovascular responses to stress. This study tests whether the release of OXT from PVN fibers in the DMNX is diminished with chronic intermittent hypoxia-hypercapnia (CIH/H) exposure, an animal model of OSA, and whether activation of PVN OXT neurons restores OXT release in the DMNX and prevents the hypertension resulting from CIH/H. To assess OXT release from PVN fibers, Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO) cells were engineered to be highly sensitive to OXT by stable expression of the human recombinant OXT receptor and the calcium indicator R-GECO1. PVN fibers in the DMNX were selectively photoactivated in vitro by expression of channelrhodopsin. The release of OXT onto CHO cells in the DMNX was blunted in rats exposed to 21 days of CIH/H. Chronic activation of PVN OXT neurons in vivo, using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs, restored the release of OXT onto CHO cells in the DMNX. Chronic PVN OXT neuron activation in vivo also prevented the hypertension that occurred in conscious unrestrained telemetry-equipped sham rats exposed to 3 wk of CIH/H. These results demonstrate that chronic activation of OXT neurons restores the release of OXT from PVN fibers in the DMNX and prevents the hypertension that occurs with 3 wk of CIH/H exposure.

The heart slows during expiration and heart rate increases during inspiration. This cardiorespiratory interaction is thought to occur by increased inhibitory synaptic events to cardiac vagal neurons during inspiration. Since cholinergic receptors have been suggested to be involved in this cardiorespiratory interaction, we tested whether endogenous cholinergic activity modulates GABAergic and glycinergic neurotransmission to cardiac vagal neurons in the nucleus ambiguus, whether nicotine can mimic this facilitation, and we examined the nicotinic receptors involved. Cardiac vagal neurons in the rat were labeled with a retrograde fluorescent tracer and studied in an in vitro slice using patch-clamp techniques. Application of neostigmine (10 μM), an acetylcholinerase inhibitor, significantly increased the frequency of both GABAergic and glycinergic inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in cardiac vagal neurons. Exogenous application of nicotine increased the frequency and amplitude of both GABAergic and glycinergic IPSCs. The nicotinic facilitation of both GABAergic and glycinergic IPSCs were insensitive to 100 nM α-bungarotoxin but were abolished by dihydro-β-erythrodine (DHβE) at a concentration (3 μM) specific for α4β2 nicotinic receptors. In the presence of TTX, nicotine increased the frequency of GABAergic and glycinergic miniature synaptic events, which were also abolished by DHβE (3 μM). This work demonstrates that there is endogenous cholinergic facilitation of GABAergic and glycinergic synaptic inputs to cardiac vagal neurons, and activation of α4β2 nicotinic receptors at presynaptic terminals facilitates GABAergic and glycinergic neurotransmission to cardiac vagal neurons. Nicotinic facilitation of inhibitory neurotransmission to premotor cardiac parasympathetic neurons may be involved in generating respiratory sinus arrhythmia.