Ontogenetic scaling of the baroreflex function in the green iguana (Iguana iguana)

Abstract

Large body mass ( Mb) in vertebrates is associated with longer pulse intervals between heartbeats (PI) and thicker arterial walls. Longer PI increases the time for diastolic pressure decay, possibly resulting in loss of cardiac energy as “oscillatory power,” whereas thicker arterial walls may affect the transmission of impulses and sensing of pressure fluctuations thus impairing baroreflex function. We aimed to investigate the effect of growth on the relative cardiac energy loss and baroreflex function. We predicted that 1) the relative use of cardiac energy should be preserved with increased time constant for pressure decay (τ = vascular resistance × compliance) and 2) if arterial circumferential distensibility does not change, baroreflex function should be unaltered with Mb. To test these hypotheses, we used green iguanas ( Iguana iguana) weighing from 0.03 to 1.34 kg (43-fold increment in Mb). PI ( P = 0.037) and τ ( P = 0.035) increased with Mb, whereas the oscillatory power fraction ( P = 0.245) was unrelated to it. Thus, the concomitant alterations of τ and PI allowed the conservation of cardiac energy in larger lizards. Larger animals had thicker arterial walls ( P = 0.0007) and greater relative collagen content ( P = 0.022). Area compliance scaled positively to Mb ( P = 0.045), though circumferential distensibility ( P = 0.155) and elastic modulus ( P = 0.762) were unaltered. In addition, baroreflex sensitivity, measured by both the pharmacological ( P = 0.152) and sequence methods ( P = 0.088), and the baroreflex effectiveness index ( P = 0.306) were also unrelated to Mb. Therefore, changes in arterial morphology did not affect circumferential distensibility and presumably sensing of pressure fluctuation, and the cardiovagal baroreflex is preserved across different Mb.