A Murine Effort Model for Studying the Influence of Trichinella on Muscular Activity of Mice

Trichinella are nematodes parasitic in the skeletal muscles of terrestrial vertebrates, generally transmitted via predatorism. It is expected that the infection would have certain influences on the muscular activity in infected animals. The aim of the study was to develop an experimental model for studying the muscular effort in laboratory mice prior to the experimental infection with Trichinella and to evaluate the method in trained (with free access to a voluntary activity wheel) and untrained (without access to activity wheel) animals. Ten laboratory mice (all adult males), equally divided in two groups were used: a control group (untrained mice) and a second group (trained). The weight was evaluated individually. The muscular activity was evaluated using an effort-wheel. Values were expressed in instantaneous power (IP) and data were recorded using a constant speed of 5 rpm for 5 and 20 minutes. The instantaneous power (IP) developed by the effort wheel at 5 minutes was significantly lower in the control group than in trained mice. Similar results were obtained for the maximum power (MP). Interestingly, for the trained mice, there was no difference between the average IP at 5 and 20 minutes of activity. The results show the utility of trained mice, establish the necessary experiment time and validate the method for evaluating the influence of Trichinella spp. on the muscular activity of experimentally infected mice