Abstract
Summary
Pregnant rats were exercised for 7 days during different gestational periods and cardiac actomyosin, nucleic acids, and glycogen were measured. Cardiac contractile protein appeared unaltered in exercised, pregnant, and pregnant-exercised groups. Myocardial RNA concentration increased during pregnancy as long as exercise did not cause cardiac hypertrophy. Rats pregnant for 14 or 21 days exhibited hypoglycemia and elevated cardiac glycogen; exercise increased cardiac glycogen and decreased placental glycogen in the last third of pregnancy. Exercising pregnant rats did not result in any obvious deleterious effects either to the mother or to the offspring.
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