Abstract
The effect of physical training on the blood circulation of long bones was studied in growing rats and mice of NMRI-strain. The animals to be trained and their controls were about 2 weeks old at the beginning of the training. The training took place on a 5° inclined treadmill 5 days a week for 3 weeks in experiment I and 7 weeks in experiments II and III. The duration of the daily exercise was progressively increased over 3 weeks. The final exercise bouts were 80 min for moderate and 180 min for intensive training programs. The circulating red cell volume (ml/100 g bone) of the humeral, femoral and tibial bones of the trained animals was lower compared to the controls in all three experiments mainly due to reduced hematocrit values. The circulating blood volume (ml/100 g bone) decreased in the tibial bones of the trained animals in experiment I and showed a decreasing tendency in experiment III, but no significant differences between the groups were observed in the humeral and femoral bones. Yet, when related to the volume of the bones the circulating blood volume (ml/100 ccm bone) was significantly higher in the femoral bones of the trained animals, while the changes in the humeral bones were negligible (experiment III). The results suggest that the vascularity of long bones is affected by physical training. The varying responses in different bones are perhaps due to the amount of mechanical stress during physical activity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J. J. B., Milin, L., Crackel, W. C.: Effect of exercise on mineral and organic bone turnover in swine. J. appl. Physiol.30, 810–813 (1971)
Brookes, M.: Red cell volumes and vascular patterns in long bones. Acta anat. (Basel)62, 35–52 (1965)
Chvapil, M., Bartos, D., Bartos, F.: Effect of long-term physical stress on collagen growth in the lung, heart and femur of young and adult rats. Gerontol.19, 267–270 (1973)
Heikkinen, E., Kiiskinen, A.: Effects of age and physical training on the development and metabolism of connective tissues. In: Sport in the modern world — chances and problems, O. Grupe, D. Kurz, J. M. Teipel, eds., pp. 480–481. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer 1973
Heikkinen, E., Suominen, H., Vihersaari, M., Vuori, I., Kiiskinen, A.: Effect of physical training on enzyme activities of bones, tendons and skeletal muscles in mice. In: Metabolic adaptation to prolonged physical exercise, H. Howald, J. R. Poortmans, eds., pp. 448–450. Basel: Birkhäuser 1975
Kiiskinen, A., Heikkinen, E.: Effect of prolonged physical training on the development of connective tissues in growing mice. In: Metabolic adaptation to prolonged physical exercise. H. Howald, J. R. Poortmans, eds., pp. 253–261. Basel: Birkhäuser 1975
King, D. W., Pengelly, R. G.: Effect of running exercise on the density of rat tibias. Med. Sci. Sport.5, 68–69 (1973)
Nilsson, B. E., Westlin, N. E.: Bone density in athletes. Clin. Orthop.77, 179–183 (1971)
Saville, P. M., Whyte, M. P.: Muscle and bone hypertrophy. Positive effect of running exercise in the rat. Clin. Orthop.65, 81–88 (1969)
Tada, A., Radoszewski, T.: The 4 π liquid scintillation method for activity measurement of electron capture nuclides. In: Liquid scintillation counting, Vol. I, A. Dyer, ed., pp. 49–54. London: Heyden 1971
Yoshimura, H.: Sports anemia. In: Physical activity in health and disease, K. Evang, K. Lange Andersen, eds., pp. 74–78. Oslo: Universitetsförlaget 1966
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kiiskinen, A., Suominen, H. Blood circulation of long bones in trained growing rats and mice. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 34, 303–309 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00999943
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00999943