The effect of pulmonary rehabilitation on carotid chemoreceptor activity and sensitivity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Recent work demonstrates that carotid chemoreceptor (CC) activity/sensitivity is elevated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared with healthy controls, and this elevated chemoreception appears to contribute to increased cardiovascular risk. Exercise training has been shown to normalize CC activity/sensitivity in other populations, and therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) can reduce CC activity/sensitivity in COPD. Forty-five COPD patients [mean FEV₁ (forced expiratory volume in 1 s) = 56.6% predicted] completed PR, while 15 COPD patients (mean FEV₁ = 74.6% predicted) served as non-PR controls. CC activity was determined by the reduction in ventilation while breathing transient hyperoxia ([Formula: see text] = 1.0); CC sensitivity was evaluated by the increase in ventilation relative to the drop in arterial saturation while breathing hypoxia. Dyspnea, six-minute walk and autonomic function data were also obtained. PR improved 6-minute walk distance (P < 0.001) and dyspnea (P = 0.04); however, there was no effect on CC activity (P = 0.60), sensitivity (P = 0.69), or autonomic function (P > 0.05 for all). Subgroup analyses indicated that PR reduced CC activity in those with elevated baseline CC activity, independent of changes in autonomic function. No change in dyspnea (P = 0.24), CC activity (P = 0.19), sensitivity (P = 0.80), or autonomic function (P > 0.05 for all) was observed in the control group. Despite improvements in exercise tolerance and dyspnea, PR appears to be generally ineffective at reducing CC sensitivity in stable COPD patients; while PR reduced CC activity in those with elevated basal CC activity, the physiological significance of this is unclear. Further investigations aimed at improving CC function in COPD are needed.NEW & NOTEWORTHY While work in other chronic diseases has shown that exercise training may help normalize carotid chemoreceptor (CC) activity/sensitivity, the current study found that exercise training through pulmonary rehabilitation did not consistently reduce CC activity/sensitivity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These results suggest that other interventions are needed to normalize CC activity/sensitivity in COPD.