Prenatal nicotinic exposure prolongs superior laryngeal C‐fiber–mediated apnea and bradycardia through enhancing neuronal TRPV1 expression and excitation

ABSTRACT Maternal cigarette smoke, including prenatal nicotinic exposure (PNE), is responsible for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The fatal events of SIDS are characterized by severe bradycardia and life‐threatening apneas. Although activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) of superior laryngeal C fibers (SLCFs) could induce bradycardia and apnea and has been implicated in SIDS pathogenesis, how PNE affects the SLCF‐mediated cardiorespiratory responses remains unexplored. Here, we tested the hypothesis that PNE would aggravate the SLCF‐mediated apnea and bradycardia via up‐regulating TRPV1 expression and excitation of laryngeal C neurons in the nodose/jugular (N/J) ganglia. To this end, we compared the following outcomes between control and PNE rat pups at postnatal days 11–14: 1) the cardiorespiratory responses to intralaryngeal application of capsaicin (10 μg/ml, 50 μl), a selective stimulant for TRPV1 receptors, in anesthetized preparation; 2) immunoreactivity and mRNA of TRPV1 receptors of laryngeal sensory C neurons in the N/J ganglia retrogradely traced by 1,1′‐dioctadecyl‐3,3,3′,3′‐tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate; and 3) TRPV1 currents and electrophysiological characteristics of these neurons by using whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique in vitro. Our results showed that PNE markedly prolonged the apneic response and exacerbated the bradycardic response to intralaryngeal perfusion of capsaicin, which was associated with up‐regulation of TRPV1 expression in laryngeal C neurons. In addition, PNE increased the TRPV1 currents, depressed the slow delayed rectifier potassium currents, and increased the resting membrane potential of these neurons. Our results suggest that PNE is capable of aggravating the SLCF‐mediated apnea and bradycardia through TRPV1 sensitization and neuronal excitation, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of SIDS.—Gao, X., Zhao, L., Zhuang, J., Zang, N., Xu, F. Prenatal nicotinic exposure prolongs superior laryngeal C‐fiber–mediated apnea and bradycardia through enhancing neuronal TRPV1 expression and excitation. FASEB J. 31, 4325–4334 (2017). www.fasebj.org