A Murine Effort Model for Studying the Influence of Trichinella on Muscular Activity of Mice

Authors

  • Ionut MARIAN University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania (RO)
  • Călin Mircea GHERMAN University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  • Andrei Daniel MIHALCA University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb739656

Keywords:

experimental model; muscular activity; effort wheel; Trichinella

Abstract

Trichinella are nematodes parasitic in the skeletal muscles of terrestrial vertebrates, generally transmitted via predatorism. It is expected that the infection would have certain influences on the muscular activity in infected animals. The aim of the study was to develop an experimental model for studying the muscular effort in laboratory mice prior to the experimental infection with Trichinella and to evaluate the method in trained (with free access to a voluntary activity wheel) and untrained (without access to activity wheel) animals. Ten laboratory mice (all adult males), equally divided in two groups were used: a control group (untrained mice) and a second group (trained). The weight was evaluated individually. The muscular activity was evaluated using an effort-wheel. Values were expressed in instantaneous power (IP) and data were recorded using a constant speed of 5 rpm for 5 and 20 minutes. The instantaneous power (IP) developed by the effort wheel at 5 minutes was significantly lower in the control group than in trained mice. Similar results were obtained for the maximum power (MP). Interestingly, for the trained mice, there was no difference between the average IP at 5 and 20 minutes of activity. The results show the utility of trained mice, establish the necessary experiment time and validate the method for evaluating the influence of Trichinella spp. on the muscular activity of experimentally infected mice.

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Published

2015-09-22

How to Cite

MARIAN, I., GHERMAN, C. M., & MIHALCA, A. D. (2015). A Murine Effort Model for Studying the Influence of Trichinella on Muscular Activity of Mice. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 7(3), 269–271. https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb739656

Issue

Section

Research articles
CITATION
DOI: 10.15835/nsb739656