Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) are neurodegenerative disorders that result in progressive motor dysfunction and ultimately lead to respiratory failure. Rodent models of neurodegenerative disorders provide a means to study the respiratory motor unit pathology that results in respiratory failure. In addition, they are important for pre-clinical studies of novel therapies that improve breathing, quality of life, and survival. The goal of this review is to compare the respiratory phenotype of two neurodegenerative disorders that have different pathological origins, but similar physiological outcomes. Manuscripts reviewed were identified using specific search terms and exclusion criteria. We excluded manuscripts that investigated novel therapeutics and only included those manuscripts that describe the respiratory pathology. The ALS manuscripts describe pathology in respiratory physiology, the phrenic and hypoglossal motor units, respiratory neural control centers, and accessory respiratory muscles. The SCA rodent model manuscripts characterized pathology in overall respiratory function, phrenic motor units and hypoglossal motor neurons. Overall, a combination of pathology in the respiratory motor units and control centers contribute to devastating respiratory dysfunction.
Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; diaphragm; hypoglossal; phrenic; respiration; spinocerebellar ataxia.