Artificial selection for whole animal low intrinsic aerobic capacity co-segregates with hypoxia-induced cardiac pump failure.

ABSTRACT: Oxygen metabolism is a strong predictor of the general health and fitness of an organism. In this study, we hypothesized that a divergence in intrinsic aerobic fitness would co-segregate with susceptibility for cardiovascular dysfunction. To test this hypothesis, cardiac function was assessed in rats specifically selected over nineteen generations for their low (LCR) and high (HCR) intrinsic aerobic running capacity. As an integrative marker of native aerobic capacity, run time to exhaustion between LCR and HCR rats had markedly diverged by 436% at generation nineteen of artificial selection. In vivo assessment of baseline cardiac function by echocardiography and catheter-based conductance micromanometry showed no marked difference in cardiac performance. However, when challenged by exposu

SUBMITTER: Palpant NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2699480 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature