Abstract:We tested the hypothesis that the biphasic ventilatory response to poikilocapnic hypoxia shows circadian variation and contribution of histamine H1 receptors in mice. Initial increases in ventilation were augmented during dark periods. H1 receptors had no major relationship with circadian variation, but affected the declined phase.Key words: histamine, ventilation, circadian variation.Ventilation endogenously oscillates throughout the day, similar to metabolism and other physiological variables [1,2]. In nocturnal animals such as rodents, ventilation and metabolism are higher in the dark period than in the light one. These circadian variations can be caused by neural inputs from the circadian pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, or by indirect influences on ventilatory control via the circadian rhythms of other variables [3]. Recently, the ventilatory response to hypoxia was also found to vary between light and dark periods in mice [4].Hypoxic gas inhalation causes time-dependent ventilatory responses under limited oxygen availability [5]. These responses involve an initial increase based on peripheral chemoreceptor afferents activated by hypoxia and a subsequent decline accompanied by a decrease of the metabolic rate. This biphasic ventilatory response is observed in conscious adult animals; the subsequent decline is called the "hypoxic ventilatory decline" (HVD) (reviewed by Neubauer et al. [6]). In earlier studies, we observed biphasic ventilatory responses to normocapnic hypoxia in mice. We added 3% CO 2 to the hypoxic gas to maintain a constant level of arterial PCO 2 (PaCO 2 ) [2,4,7]; this prevents hypocapnia induced by hypoxic hyperventilation [8]. Indeed, our previous blood gas analyses in mice showed PaCO 2 levels of 36-39 mmHg at 10 min after 7% O 2 inhalation adding 3% CO 2 [4, 9], but 19 mmHg at the same time after 7% O 2 inhalation [10]. However, hypoxic gas inhalation adding 3% CO 2 , augments the initial increase because of the activation of the chemoreceptor afferents responsible for changes in both PaO 2 and PaCO 2 [11]. Increased PaCO 2 enhances carotid body activity by augmenting the Ca 2+ current in glomus cells [12]. Meanwhile, hypoxia and an inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation increase the chemosensory responses to CO 2 [11,13]. These observations show that hypoxic ventilatory responses may be influenced by additional CO 2 through a chemosensory pathway. Therefore an investigation using hypoxic gas inhalation without adding CO 2 is needed, especially to examine the chemosensory response profile. We focused on the ventilatory responses to poikilocapnic hypoxia in which the PaCO 2 level decreased over time, and compared these responses to those of normocapnic hypoxia. Circadian variation has also been observed in ventilatory response to normocapnic hypoxia [4], but ventilatory responses to poikilocapnic hypoxia remain unknown.Histamine H1 receptors in the brain are involved in hypoxic ventilatory control, specifically the HVD accompanying decrease in the metabolic rat...