Myocardial stunning and hibernation have been subjects of intense laboratory and clinical investigations to elucidate mechanisms responsible for contractile dysfunction after transient ischemia or chronic hypoperfusion. Considerable evidence has implicated the generation of oxygen-derived free radicals and derangements in myocardial energy metabolism and excitation-contraction coupling as major...

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels and other circannual hibernators undergo profound physiological changes on an annual basis, transitioning from summer homeothermy [body temperature (T(b)) approximately 37 degrees C] to winter heterothermy (T(b) cycling between 0 degrees C and 37 degrees C). We hypothesize that these physiological changes are reflected in biochemical changes that provide mechanis...

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of Afrotropical endotherms known to avoid mismatches between energy supply and demand by using daily torpor and/or hibernation. Among mammals, heterothermy has been reported in 40 species in six orders, namely Macroscelidea, Afrosoricida, Rodentia, Eulipotyphla, Primates and Chiroptera. These species span a range in body mass of 7-770 g, wit...

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have a multitude of health effects. Their incorporation into membrane phospholipids (PL) is generally believed to depend directly on dietary influx. PL influence transmembrane protein activity and thus can compensate temperature effects; e.g. PL n-6 PUFA are thought to stabilize heart function at low body temperature (T(b)), whereas long chain (>C18) n-3 PUFA ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 19- to 25-nucleotide-long small and noncoding RNAs now well-known for their regulatory roles in gene expression through posttranscriptional and translational controls. Mammalian hibernation is a physiological process involving profound changes in set-points for food consumption, body mass and growth, body temperature, and metabolic rate in which miRNAs may play important ...

Prolonged inactivity leads to disuse atrophy, a loss of muscle and bone mass. Hibernating mammals are inactive for 6-9 months per year but must return to full activity immediately after completing hibernation. This necessity for immediate recovery presents an intriguing conundrum, as many mammals require two to three times the period of inactivity to recover full bone strength. Therefore, if hi...

Hibernation is widely regarded as an adaptation to seasonal energy shortage, but the actual influence of energy availability on hibernation patterns is rarely considered. Here we review literature on the costs and benefits of torpor expression to examine the influence that energy may have on hibernation patterns. We first establish that the dichotomy between food- and fat-storing hibernators co...

Please cite this article in press as: Mateo, Behaviour (2010), doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.201 Self-referential phenotype matching, or using one’s own cues as a referent for recognizing kin, is expected in species with multiple paternity or maternity to discriminate among full siblings and halfsiblings, or in nepotistic contexts to accurately assess relatedness. It would also facilitate optimal inbre...

BACKGROUND Myocardial hibernation and stunning are characterised by a reversible contractile dysfunction during and after ischaemia, respectively. Calcium homeostasis might be disturbed in hibernation and stunning due to altered expression of cardiac proteins involved in calcium handling. METHODS In enflurane-anaesthetised swine the coronary blood flow through the left anterior descending cor...

This study uses advanced proteogenomic approaches in a nonmodel organism to elucidate cardioprotective mechanisms used during mammalian hibernation. Mammalian hibernation is characterized by drastic reductions in body temperature, heart rate, metabolism, and oxygen consumption. These changes pose significant challenges to the physiology of hibernators, especially for the heart, which maintains ...