Anatomy Commons^™

Impaired Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow Control With Advancing Age In Humans: Attenuated Atp Release And Local Vasodilation During Erythrocyte Deoxygenation, Brett S. Kirby, Anne R. Crecelius, Wyatt F. Voyles, Frank A. Dinenno

Health and Sport Science Faculty Publications

Rationale: Skeletal muscle blood flow is coupled with the oxygenation state of hemoglobin in young adults, whereby the erythrocyte functions as an oxygen sensor and releases ATP during deoxygenation to evoke vasodilation. Whether this function is impaired in humans of advanced age is unknown.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that older adults demonstrate impaired muscle blood flow and lower intravascular ATP during conditions of erythrocyte deoxygenation.

Methods and Results: We showed impaired forearm blood flow responses during 2 conditions of erythrocyte deoxygenation (systemic hypoxia and graded handgrip exercise) with age, which was caused by reduced local vasodilation. In young adults, …

Nigrostriatal Dopamine-Neuron Function From Neurotrophic-Like Peptide Treatment And Neurotrophic Factor Depletion, Ofelia Meagan Littrell

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Trophic factors have shown great promise in their potential to treat neurological disease. In particular, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been identified as a potent neurotrophic factor for midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN), which lose function in Parkinson’s disease (PD). GDNF progressed to phase II clinical trials, which did not meet proposed endpoints. The large size and binding characteristics of GDNF have been suspected to contribute to some of the shortcomings of GDNF related to delivery to target brain regions. Smaller peptides derived from GDNF (Dopamine-Neuron Stimulating Peptides – DNSPs) have been recently investigated …

Assessing Epidermal Growth Factor Expression In The Rodent Hippocampus Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Janice Mabutas Daus

Theses and Dissertations

Hippocampal neurons are vulnerable to injury, as indicated by the prevalence of learning and memory deficits following traumatic brain injury. Research indicates that proliferation of neural precursor cells increases following brain injury, which implies that there is an endogenous response in the hippocampus to replenish neurons and restore cognitive function. Studies show that mitogenic growth factors may drive this proliferative response; one of which is epidermal growth factor. Because adults and the elderly manifest the most enduring deficits following TBI, it is critical to investigate how EGF expression following injury may relate to injury-induced cell proliferation and the degree of …

The Role Of Lower Leg Muscle Activity In Blood Pressure Maintenance Of Older Adults, Michelle M. Masterson, Amy L. Morgan, Christine E. Multer, Daniel Cipriani

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose. Age-associated muscle weakness, postural instability, and orthostatic hypotension have been identified as contributing factors to falls , but the relationships among them are not clear. Therefore, the purpose of this study, a two-way factorial design, was to investigate the differences in lower extremity (LE) muscle activity, blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR) between young and older individuals in an upright position. Methods. Ten young males (20-24 yrs.) and 10 older males (65-82 yrs.) stood for 15 minutes while BP, HR, and LE electromyography (EMG) were recorded at one minute intervals . A two-way ANOVA was used …