Physical Performance Capacity of Rats during Bacterial Infection.
Abstract
A usable model for evaluating alterations in performance capacity during bacterial infections is described in which two strains of laboratory rats were inoculated with varying doses of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Francisella tularensis and forced to swim. Rat strain differences played an important role in the animals' response to infection and exercise. Variability between individual naive rats was encountered and a 60-min swim test (1 week prior to inoculation) was used to standardize work performance. Swimming capacity was reduced by either disease, their effects increasing with time postinoculation. Prior experience with the swim task altered disease-induced decrements, but did not change the animals' response to a lethal challenge of either microorganism. Time of exercise in relation to disease exposure was also important. Strenuous exercise postinoculation increased disease-related mortality, while a swim immediately before inoculation reduced susceptibility to lethal doses of either bacteria. Daily exercise was found to evoke a training response by limiting the infection-induced decrement in performance capacity. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 12, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA100047
Entities
People
- Daniel J. Crawford
- Goran Friman
- Harold A. Neufeld
- Nils-gunnar Ilback
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases