Chronic nicotine in utero and in vitro abrogates O2‐sensitivity in perinatal rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells

Rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells (AMC) possess an O2‐sensing mechanism that is critical for the neonate to survive hypoxic stress. This mechanism promotes catecholamine secretion during hypoxia and is lost postnatally as AMC acquire sympathetic cholinergic innervation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that activation of nicotinic ACh receptors (AChR) in rat AMC is a critical step leading to the loss of O2‐ sensitivity, indicated by the …