Rats bred for low aerobic capacity become promptly fatigued and have slow metabolic recovery after stimulated, maximal muscle contractions.

AIM. Muscular fatigue is a complex phenomenon affected by muscle fiber type and several metabolic and ionic changes within myocytes. Mitochondria are the main determinants of muscle oxidative capacity which is also one determinant of muscle fatigability. By measuring the concentrations of intracellular stores of high-energy phosphates it is possible to estimate the energy production efficiency and metabolic recovery of the muscle. Low intrinsic aerobic capacity is known to be associated with reduced mitochondrial function. Whether low intrinsic aerobic capacity also results in slower metabolic recovery of skeletal muscle is not known. Here we studied the influence of intrinsic aerobic capac…

Elevated end systolic function in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a common cause of premature death amongst epilepsy patients. It is hypothesized to result from cardiorespiratory dysfunction, but the exact aetiology is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if functional cardiovascular alterations were present in rats with chronic epileptic behaviour. Naive control rats were compared to a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy that was induced using a repeated low-dose kainic acid (KA) protocol. The results indicate that end-systolic volume was significantly (p=0.01) higher in the epileptic group whilst end-diastolic volume did not reach significance (p=0.08). Ejection fraction, stroke volume, cardiac o…

NMR relaxation times of trabecular bone—reproducibility, relationships to tissue structure and effects of sample freezing

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provides a potential tool for non-invasive evaluation of the trabecular bone structure. The objective of this study was to determine the reproducibility of the NMR relaxation parameters (T(2), Carr-Purcel-T(2), T(1ρ)) for fat and water and relate those to the structural parameters obtained by micro-computed tomography (μCT). Especially, we aimed to evaluate the effect of freezing on the relaxation parameters. For storing bone samples, freezing is the standard procedure during which the biochemical and cellular organization of the bone marrow may be affected. Bovine trabecular bone samples were stored at -20 °C for 7 days and measured by NMR spec…

Multi-band SWIFT enables quiet and artefact-free EEG-fMRI and awake fMRI studies in rat

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in animal models provide invaluable information regarding normal and abnormal brain function, especially when combined with complementary stimulation and recording techniques. The echo planar imaging (EPI) pulse sequence is the most common choice for fMRI investigations, but it has several shortcomings. EPI is one of the loudest sequences and very prone to movement and susceptibility-induced artefacts, making it suboptimal for awake imaging. Additionally, the fast gradient-switching of EPI induces disrupting currents in simultaneous electrophysiological recordings. Therefore, we investigated whether the unique features of Multi-Band SWeep…

Coupling between simultaneously recorded BOLD response and neuronal activity in the rat somatosensory cortex

Abstract Understanding the link between the hemodynamic response and the underlying neuronal activity is important for interpreting functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) signals in human and animal studies. Simultaneous electrophysiological and functional imaging measurements provide a knowledge of information processing and communication in the brain with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, a range of neural and blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses were elicited in the rat somatosensory cortex by changing the type of anesthesia (urethane or alpha-chloralose) and the electrical forepaw stimulus frequency (1–15 Hz). Duration of the stimulus was 30 s. Electrical …

Rats selectively bred for low aerobic capacity become promptly fatigued and have slow metabolic recovery after stimulated muscle contractions

Evoked local field potentials can explain temporal variation in blood oxygenation level-dependent responses in rat somatosensory cortex

The aim of this study was to explain the temporal variations between subjects in the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) response. Somatosensory responses were elicited with the electrical forepaw stimulus at a frequency of 10 Hz in urethane-anesthetized rats, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with BOLD contrast and local field potential (LFP) measurements were performed simultaneously. BOLD fMRI activation was evaluated by two different models, one based on the stimulus paradigm (the block model) and the other on the simultaneously measured evoked LFP responses. In the initial analysis, the LFP model captured the BOLD activation in the primary somatosensory cortex in al…