The human ventilatory response to step changes in end-tidal PO2 of differing amplitude.

This study assessed whether the form of the peripheral chemoreflex response to hypoxia depends on the magnitude of the stimulus. Two amplitudes of square-wave hypoxic stimulation were employed: small amplitude (SO) PETO2 from 63.2 to 54.9 Torr, and large amplitude (LO) PETO2 from 73.0 to 48.0 Torr. Each was studied at two levels of PETCO2: 2 Torr above resting PETCO2 (EC), and 7 Torr above resting PETCO2 (HC). Each protocol was repeated 6 times on 5 subjects. To assess the form of the response, a simple first-order model was fitted to the data which incorporated a pure delay (Td) and time constant (tau). Average parameter values (sec) were: ECSO tau = 4.07, Td = 6.69; ECLO tau = 8.82, Td = 4.91; HCSO tau = 5.22, Td = 7.08; HCLO tau = 9.96, Td = 4.39. ANOVA demonstrated modest but significant differences for loge(tau) (P