An induced blood pressure rise does not alter upper airway resistance in sleeping humans

Wilson, Christine R., Shalini Manchanda, David Crabtree, James B. Skatrud, and Jerome A. Dempsey. An induced blood pressure rise does not alter upper airway resistance in sleeping humans.J. Appl. Physiol. 84(1): 269–276, 1998.—Sleep apnea is associated with episodic increases in systemic blood pressure. We investigated whether transient increases in arterial pressure altered upper airway resistance and/or breathing pattern in nine sleeping humans (snorers and nonsnorers). A pressure-tipped catheter was placed below the base of the tongue, and flow was measured from a nose or face mask. During non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, we injected 40- to 200-μg iv boluses of phenylephrine. Parasympathetic blockade was used if bradycardia was excessive. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) rose by 20 ± 5 (mean ± SD) mmHg (range 12–37 mmHg) within 12 s and remained elevated for 105 s. There were no significant changes in inspiratory or expiratory pharyngeal resistance (measured at peak flow, peak pressure, 0.2 l/s or by evaluati...