Loss of resting bradycardia with detraining is associated with intrinsic heart rate changes

The mechanisms underlying the loss of resting bradycardia with detraining were studied in rats. The relative contribution of autonomic and non-autonomic mechanisms was studied in 26 male Wistar rats (180-220 g) randomly assigned to four groups: sedentary (S, N = 6), trained (T, N = 8), detrained for 1 week (D1, N = 6), and detrained for 2 weeks (D2, N = 6). T, D1 and D2 were treadmill trained 5 days/week for 60 min with a gradual increase towards 50% peak VO2. After the last training session, D1 and D2 were detrained for 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. The effect of the autonomic nervous system in causing training-induced resting bradycardia and in restoring heart rate (HR) to pre-exercise training level (PET) with detraining was examined indirectly after cardiac muscarinic and adrenergic receptor blockade. T rats significantly increased peak VO2 by 15 or 23.5% when compared to PET and S rats, respectively. Detraining reduced peak VO2 in both D1 and D2 rats by 22% compared to T rats, indicating loss of aerobic capacity. Resting HR was significantly lower in T and D1 rats than in S rats (313 +/- 6.67 and 321 +/- 6.01 vs 342 +/- 12.2 bpm) and was associated with a significantly decreased intrinsic HR (368 +/- 6.1 and 362 +/- 7.3 vs 390 +/- 8 bpm). Two weeks of detraining reversed the resting HR near PET (335 +/- 6.01 bpm) due to an increased intrinsic HR in D2 rats compared with T and D1 rats (376 +/- 8.8 bpm). The present study provides the first evidence of intrinsic HR-mediated loss of resting bradycardia with detraining in rats.