Table 1

Heart rate and variables of atrial contraction in sinoatrial preparations of thermally acclimated crucian carp

Variable

4°C acclimated fish

18°C acclimated fish

Heart rate (beats/min)

11.2 ± 0.5*

52.1 ± 1.7

Force (mN/mg)

1.2 ± 0.4*

3.4 ± 0.6

Time to peak force (ms)

774.3 ± 47.5*

237.4 ± 4.5

Time to half of relaxation (ms)

914.0 ± 45.2*

278.5 ± 8.2

Maximal rate of rise (mN/mg/ms)

0.04 ± 0.2*

0.21 ± 0.3

Maximal rate of fall (mN/mg/ms)

0.03 ± 0.1*

0.14 ± 0.2

Size of atrial tissues (mg)

6.71 ± 0.4

6.90 ± 0.6

Experiments were conducted at the acclimation temperature of the fish. The results are means ± SEM (n = 16-18). A statistically significant difference between acclimation groups is indicated by an asterisk (*, P < 0.05).

Vornanen et al. BMC Physiology 2010 10:10   doi:10.1186/1472-6793-10-10