Kohachi Taniguchi

Heat stress increases myonuclear number and fiber size via satellite cell activation in rat regenerating soleus fibers

To investigate the effects of heat stress (hyperthermia) on muscle degeneration-regeneration, the soleus muscles of adult male Wistar rats were injected bilaterally with a single injection of bupivacaine. The rats were assigned to a sedentary control (Con), heat stress (Heat), bupivacaine-injected (BPVC), or bupivacaine-injected plus heat stress (BPVC+Heat) group. Heat stress was induced in the Heat and BPVC+Heat groups by immersion of the lower half of the body into water maintained at 42 +/- 1 degrees C for 30 min 48 h after the injection of bupivacaine and every other day during the following 1 or 2 wk. The soleus muscles in all groups were excised 24 h after the final bout of heat stress. Mean muscle weight, fiber cross-sectional area, myonuclear number, and heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) and calcineurin protein levels were lower in the BPVC than in the Con or Heat groups at both time points. In contrast, several of these parameters in the BPVC+Heat group were not different or higher than in the Con or Heat groups at the 1- and/or 2-wk time points. The number of total and activated satellite cells, estimated by analyses of Pax7-negative, M-cadherin-negative, and MyoD-positive nuclei, was greater in BPVC+Heat than in all other groups. Combined, the results indicate that heat stress-related activation of satellite cells and upregulation of Hsp72 and calcineurin expression played important roles in the regeneration of the soleus fibers after bupivacaine injection.

Noninvasive assessment of cardiac contractility by using (dP/dt)/P of carotid artery pulses during exercise.

In earlier studies we have shown that both the pressure (P) of the carotid artery pulse (CAP) and its first derivative (CAP dP/dt) could be recorded during moderate exercise. To establish that the CAP (dP/dt)/P is a noninvasive substitute for the left ventricular (LV) value, LV (dP/dt)/P, an index of cardiac contractility, we studied CAP (dP/dt)/P under various states of activity in the autonomic nervous system in 12 healthy male subjects. Increased sympathetic nerve activities yielded by passive tilting, emotional load, or cold stress increased CAP (dP/dt)/P significantly (P< 0.05). Increased parasympathetic nerve activity by ocular compression, however, did not significantly affect the value. Moderate exercise at a heart rate of approximately 150 beats·min−1 increased it significantly from 16.7 to 25.2·s−1 in a supine position (P<0.001) and from 16.6 to 24.8·s−1 in an upright position (P<0.001). It increased monotonically as heart rate increased, but the slope was steeper when the heart rate was greater than approximately 100 beats·min−1 than it was when the rate was less than 100 beats·min−1. In conclusion, the present study indicated that CAP (dP/dt)/P can be used as a noninvasive index of cardiac contractility even in moderate exercise.