Abstract
It has been shown that the arterial baroreflex is depressed in heart failure. The role of alterations in afferent discharge as a possible mechanism for this depression has not been investigated previously. Single unit aortic baroreceptor activity was recorded from six normal dogs and from nine dogs, each with a chronic aorto-caval fistula (AVF). At the time of the acute experiment, mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was not significantly different in the two groups of dogs; however, pulse pressure was significantly higher in the AVF dogs (45.7±2.4 mm Hg vs, 24.4±2.0 mm Hg; p