Gender considerations in ventilatory and metabolic development in rats: special emphasis on the critical period. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2013 Aug 15;188(2):200-7
Date
06/26/2013Pubmed ID
23797186Pubmed Central ID
PMC3731389DOI
10.1016/j.resp.2013.06.013Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84880376068 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 7 CitationsAbstract
In rats, a critical period exists around postnatal day (P) 12-13, when an imbalance between heightened inhibition and suppressed excitation led to a weakened ventilatory and metabolic response to acute hypoxia. An open question was whether the two genders follow the same or different developmental trends throughout the first 3 postnatal weeks and whether the critical period exists in one or both genders. The present large-scale, in-depth ventilatory and metabolic study was undertaken to address this question. Our data indicated that: (1) the ventilatory and metabolic rates in both normoxia and acute hypoxia were comparable between the two genders from P0 to P21; thus, gender was never significant as a main effect; and (2) the age effect was highly significant in all parameters studies for both genders, and both genders exhibited a significantly weakened response to acute hypoxia during the critical period. Thus, the two genders have comparable developmental trends, and the critical period exists in both genders in rats.
Author List
Liu Q, Wong-Riley MTMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Age FactorsAnimals
Animals, Newborn
Body Temperature
Body Weight
Carbon Dioxide
Female
Hypoxia
Male
Oxygen Consumption
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Respiratory Mechanics
Sex Characteristics
Tidal Volume
