Breathing pattern and hypoxic sensitivity during ageing in a new model of obesity-resistant rat.
The Lou/C rat, an inbred strain of Wistar origin, is presented both as an obesity-resistant rat and as a relevant model of successful ageing. In the present study, we examined throughout ageing the breathing pattern and the ventilatory response to hypoxia in Lou/C and age-matched Wistar rats. Ventilation was assessed by whole body plethysmography in resting condition and during a hypoxic challenge (10% O(2)) at 2, 6, 12 and 24 months of age. Lou/C rats maintained constant their resting ventilation rate throughout ageing while Wistar rats tended to decrease their ventilation with advancing age. Elderly Lou/C as well as Wistar rats increased their frequency rather than their tidal volume in response to hypoxia. As Lou/C rats did not develop obesity, ageing per se surpasses the effect of fat accumulation and prevents old rats to mobilise their tidal volume in response to hypoxia.
Soulage
Christophe
C
Laboratoire de Physiologie Intégrative, Cellulaire et Moléculaire, UMR-CNRS 5123, Université Claude Bernard, Bât Raphaël Dubois, Campus de la Doua, 43 boulevard du 11 novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France.
Pequignot
Jean-Marc
JM
Perrin
David
D
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000378:metabolism*; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism*; D010991:Plethysmography; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology*; D013990:Tidal Volume
D002395:Catecholamines