Influence du froid, du vent et de la pluie sur les dépenses énergétiques et la thermorégulation de sept types génétiques de brebis

International audienc

Effects of dietary cholesterol and fatty acids on the lipid composition of muscle in the preruminant calf

International audienc

Effects of dietary cholesterol and fatty acids on the lipid composition of muscle in the preruminant calf

International audienc

Ciliary neurotrophic factor prevents unweighting-induced functional changes in rat soleus muscle

The purpose of the present work was to see whether changes in rat soleus characteristics due to 3 wk of hindlimb suspension could be modified by ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) treatment. Throughout the tail suspension period, the cytokine was delivered by means of an osmotic pump (flow rate 16 microg. kg(-1). h(-1)) implanted under the hindlimb skin. In contrast to extensor digitorum longus, CNTF treatment was able to reduce unweighting-induced atrophy in the soleus. Twitch and 146 mM potassium (K) tensions, measured in small bundles of unloaded soleus, decreased by 48 and 40%, respectively. Moreover, the time to peak tension and the time constant of relaxation of the twitch were 48 and 54% faster, respectively, in unloaded soleus than in normal muscle. On the contrary, twitch and 146 mM K contracture generated in CNTF-treated unloaded and normal soleus were not different. CNTF receptor-alpha mRNA expression increased in extensor digitorum longus and soleus unloaded nontreated muscles but was similar in CNTF-treated unloaded muscles. The present results demonstrate that exogenously provided CNTF could prevent functional changes occurring in soleus innervated muscle subject to unweighting

Comparison of excitability parameters and sodium channel behavior of fast- and slow-twitch rat skeletal muscles for the study of the effects of hindlimb suspension, a model of hypogravity.

When mammals are constrained to hypogravity, their neuromuscular apparatus undergoes modifications which rend difficult postural maintenance and muscular activity upon the return to normal gravitational conditions. Muscle atrophy and differetial gene expression are particularly evident in slow-twitch antigravity muscles such as the soleus. During hypogravity, most of the metabolic and contractile properties characteristic of slow-twitch muscles shift toward to those of fast-twitch muscles. For example, the expression of the fast isoforms of both the myosin heavy-chain and the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump increases in slow-twitch muscle during hypogravity. Thus, modifications of the contractile machinery and calcium handling are likely to be involved in the hypogravity-induced slow-twitch muscle impariment. Fast- and slow-twitch muscles differ also in their electrical properties. Resting membrane potential (RMP) is more negative by about 10 mV in fast muscles compared to slow ones. Differences in action potential (AP) shape as well as in the number of elicitable APs have been also observed between both muscle types, which may reslut from the reported differences in chloride conductance and sodium current. Little is known about the potential modification fo muscle electrical properties during hypogravity, apart a negative shift of the RMP in soleus muscle. Thus this study was performed at the aim to compare the excitability parameters and sodium channel behavior of rat fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers. The characterization of these properties specific for each muscle-type will give us the basis for the study of the effect of hypogravity