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Effect Of Intermittent Weight Bearing On Soleus Fiber Force-Velocity-Power And Force-Pca Relationships, J. J. Bangart, Jeffrey J. Widrick, Robert H. Fitts

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Rat permeabilized type I soleus fibers displayed a 33% reduction in peak power output and a 36% increase in the free Ca²⁺ concentration required for one-half maximal activation after 14 days of hindlimb non-weight bearing (NWB). We examined the effectiveness of intermittent weight bearing (IWB; consisting of four 10-min periods of weight bearing/day) as a countermeasure to these functional changes. At peak power output, type I fibers from NWB animals produced 54% less force and shortened at a 56% greater velocity than did type I fibers from control weight-bearing animals while type I fibers from the IWB rats produced …