Chunfen Zhang
Canada
Research Article
Heart Glycogen Influences Protective Responses of Rat Pups to Hypoxia during Early Postnatal Maturation
Author(s): James E Fewell and Chunfen ZhangJames E Fewell and Chunfen Zhang
Failure to auto resuscitate from hypoxic-induced apnea by gasping has been suggested to play a role in sudden infant death. Little is known, however, about factors that influence gasping and its ability to sustain life during acute hypoxia in the newborn. Given that cardiac dysfunction and circulatory failure likely play a role in mediating auto resuscitation failure, the present experiments were carried out on 206 rat pups to investigate the influence of heart glycogen -- a metabolic substrate that supports cardiac function during acute hypoxia -- on the time to last gasp (TLG) during a single period of unrelenting hypoxia, and on the ability to auto resuscitate (AR) from primary apnea during repeated hypoxic challenge. On days 1-2, 5-6, and 10-11 postpartum, each pup was placed into a temperature controlled chamber regulated to 37 ± 1° C and exposed either to a single per.. View More»
