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Cardiovascular changes during daily torpor in the laboratory mouse

Department of Biology, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Submitted 4 March 2009 ; accepted in final form 6 July 2009

The laboratory mouse is a facultative daily heterotherm in that it experiences bouts of torpor under caloric restriction. Mice are the most frequently studied laboratory mammal, and often, genetically modified mice are used to investigate many physiological functions related to weight loss and caloric intake. As such, research documenting the cardiovascular changes during fasting-induced torpor in mice is warranted. In the current study, C57BL/6 mice were implanted either with EKG/temperature telemeters or blood pressure telemeters. Upon fasting and exposure to an ambient temperature (T_a) of 19°C, mice entered torpor bouts as assessed by core body temperature (T_b). Core T_b fell from 36.6 ± 0.2°C to a minimum of 25.9 ± 0.9°C during the fast, with a concomitant fall in heart rate from 607 ± 12 beats per minute (bpm) to a minimum of 158 ± 20 bpm. Below a core T_b of 31°C, heart rate fell exponentially with T_b, and the Q₁₀ was 2.61 ± 0.18. Further, mice implanted with blood pressure telemeters exhibited similar heart rate and activity profiles as those implanted with EKG/temperature telemeters, and the fall in heart rate and core T_b during entrance into torpor was paralleled by a fall in blood pressure. The minimum systolic, mean, and diastolic blood pressures of torpid mice were 62.3 ± 10.2, 51.9 ± 9.2, 41.0 ± 7.5 mmHg, respectively. Torpid mice had a significantly lower heart rate (25–35%) than when euthermic at mean arterial pressures from 75 to 100 mmHg, suggesting that total peripheral resistance is elevated during torpor. These data provide new and significant insight into the cardiovascular adjustments that occur in torpid mice.

hibernation; heart rate; systolic; diastolic; fasting; radiotelemetry