Table 1.
Animal and coronary vessel characteristics
| Sedentary | Exercise training | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Body weight (g) | Young | 374 ± 10 (22) | 358 ± 4 (26) |
| Old | 456 ± 7* (28) | 428 ± 5*† (34) | |
| Heart weight (mg) | Young | 934 ± 17 (15) | 934 ± 17 (25) |
| Old | 1164 ± 34* (28) | 1286 ± 46* (33) | |
| Left ventricular weight (mg) | Young | 746 ± 10 (10) | 753 ± 16 (10) |
| Old | 780 ± 28 (8) | 836 ± 25*† (14) | |
| HW/BW (mg · g−1) | Young | 2.32 ± 0.05 (15) | 2.62 ± 0.07 (25) |
| Old | 2.58 ± 0.07 (27) | 3.00 ± 0.10*† (33) | |
| LV /BW (mg · g−1) | Young | 1.83 ± 0.04 (10) | 2.08 ± 0.05 (10) |
| Old | 1.93 ± 0.07 (27) | 2.01 ± 0.21 (33) | |
| Soleus muscle citrate synthase activity (μmol · min−1 · g−1) | Young | 19.1 ± 0.5 (10) | 23.1 ± 1.1† (9) |
| Old | 14.2 ± 0.7* (8) | 18.5 ± 0.9† (9) | |
| Maximal diameter (μm) | Young | 145 ± 8 (9) | 143 ± 9 (11) |
| Old | 143 ± 7 (9) | 142 ± 9 (13) | |
| Spontaneous tone (%) | Young | 23.1 ± 1.6 (9) | 26.6 ± 2.8 (11) |
| Old | 21.4 ± 0.8 (9) | 29.2 ± 1.9† (13) |
Values are mean ± SEM; n (in parentheses), number of rats in each group; HW/BW, heart weight‐to‐body weight ratio; LV/BW, left ventricle weight‐to‐body weight ratio. *Effect of age (P ≤ 0.05). †Effect of exercise training (P ≤ 0.05).