Cardiorespiratory physiology in the bottlenose dolphin before, during, and after breath-holding and restraint.

Abstract

This proposed work is intended to evaluate cardiorespiratory (heart rate, stroke volume, systemic and pulmoarterial pressures, respiratory flow and expired gas composition) function in a small cetacean, the bottlenose dolphin, at rest, during apnea, during recovery from apnea and during and following a stressful situation. In addition, we will use these data to extract medical biomarkders from animals that are adapted to a range of extreme physiological challenges (e.g. hypoxia, ischemia/reperfusion, atelectasis). These biomarkers may provide valuable information for human clinical medicine.Specific aims are: determine resting cardiac output (heart rate and stroke volume) in resting bottlenose dolphins during different phases of the respiratory cycle; systemic and pulmonary cardiac paramters (heart rate, stroke volume, mitral and tricuspid regurgitation pressures) will be measured before, during, and after trained static sequential breath-holds of up to 5 minutes; determine respiratory flow rates, expired O2 and CO2, and cardiac outuput (heart rate, stroke volume, blood pressure) before and after a "stressful" event such as physical restraint in shallow water by lifting the floor of a false bottom pool; and the transthoracic echocardiography videos collected before, during and following apneas will be used to extract biomarkers to assess cardiac morphology, displacement, enlargement, and flow characteristics.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Nov 23, 2016
Source ID
N000141613088

Entities

People

  • Andreas Fahlman

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Marine Mammal Biology