Vasomotor sympathetic outflow in the muscle metaboreflex in low birth weight young adults.

A growing body of evidence suggests that low birth weight (LBW) offspring are associated with long-term structural and functional changes in cardiovascular and neuroendocrine systems. We tested the hypothesis that muscle metaboreflex activation produces exaggerated responses in cardiac autonomic tone (represented by heart rate variability ratio) and cutaneous vascular sympathetic tone (represented by plethysmography pulse wave amplitude) in LBW compared to normal birth weight (NBW) young adults. We recruited 23 LBW (18 females and five males) and 23 NBW (14 females and nine males) University of Zimbabwe students with neonatal clinical cards as proof of birth weight at term.

Effects of different frequencies of loading on healing in partial rupture of the Achilles tendon in a rat model.

Objective: To determine the histological effects of different frequencies of loading in a healing Achilles tendon following partial rupture.

Design: Experimental laboratory study.

Setting: University of Zimbabwe, Department of Physiology, Animal house.

Exercise-induced cardiac fatigue in low and normal birth weight young black adults.

The objective of the study was to compare the change in diastolic function, E/A ratio, in response to prolonged exercise in low birth weight and normal birth weight individuals. Using a case-control study design, 23 students of the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences who had neonatal clinic cards as proof of birth weight were recruited into the study. Measurements of diastolic function, E/A ratio, were obtained using an echocardiogram before and after 75 minutes of exercise.

Glucose tolerance study in low and normal birth weight young adults.

Objective: To determine blood glucose levels by conducting an oral glucose tolerance test in low and normal birth weight young black adults.

Design: Acase control study was done. Seventy students in the College of Health Sciences who had neonatal clinic cards as proof of birth weight were recruited into the study.

Cardiovascular effects of Boophone disticha aqueous ethanolic extract on early maternally separated BALB/C mice.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: There are a number of reports from traditional medical practice in Zimbabwe and neighboring countries and few in vitro studies suggesting an effect with extracts of Boophone disticha in some forms of anxiety disorder.

Aim Of The Study: In order to validate the use of Boophone disticha in treatment of anxiety, this study was set to determine the effects of the plant extracts on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in adult BALB/c mice subjected to repeated early maternal separation (MS) stress.

Materials And Methods: To test whether early life stress increases anxiety in mice, non-invasive tail cuff method was used to examine the autonomic nervous system activity by assessing cardiovascular reactivity and response to acute mixing stress (AMS) and restraint stress (RS) in adult mice subjected to early postnatal stress as compared to control.