Intermittent but not sustained moderate hypoxia elicits long-term facilitation of hypoglossal motor output

•Long-term facilitation of hypoglossal motor output induced by moderate hypoxia is pattern-sensitive.•Intermittent, but not sustained, moderate hypoxia, elicits hypoglossal long-term facilitation.•Long-term facilitation of hypoglossal motor output results from enhanced hypoglossal burst amplitude versus frequency. Phrenic long-term facilitation (pLTF) is a form of serotonin-dependent respiratory motor plasticity induced by moderate acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH), but not by moderate acute sustained hypoxia (ASH) of similar cumulative duration. Thus, moderate AIH-induced pLTF is sensitive to the pattern of hypoxia. On the other hand, pLTF induced by severe AIH protocols is neither pattern sensitive nor serotonin dependent (it converts to an adenosine-dependent mechanism). Although moderate AIH also induces hypoglossal LTF (hLTF), no data are available concerning its sensitivity/insensitivity to the pattern of hypoxia. Since hLTF following moderate hypoxia is serotonin-dependent, we hypothesized that hLTF is pattern-sensitive, similar to serotonin-dependent pLTF. Integrated hypoglossal nerve activity was recorded in urethane-anesthetized, vagotomized, paralyzed, and ventilated rats exposed to isocapnic AIH (3, 5min episodes of 11% O2) or ASH (a single 25min episode of 11% O2). Similar to previous studies of pLTF, hypoglossal motor output was elevated for more than 1h following AIH (50±20%, p0.05). Frequency LTF was not observed following either hypoxic exposure. Thus, in agreement with our hypothesis, hypoglossal LTF following moderate AIH is pattern-sensitive, similar to phrenic LTF.