Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Study of cardiovascular and metabolic regulation can be performed using electrical stimulation on paralyzed muscle. Simultaneously, electrical induced training of spinal cord injured individuals can beneficially improve their aerobic capacity and thus lower risk for inactivity associated diseases. The normal correlation between oxygen uptake and cardiac output is maintained during electrical involuntary exercise, and venous blood return is most likely a candidate for this relation during exercise. With regards to metabolism, substrate mobilization of glucose and fatty acids is impaired in the absence of motor control and neural feedback from muscle, during electrical exercise in spinal cord injured muscle glycogenolysis dominates. Electrical stimulation ergometer training in spinal cord injured rapidly increases glycolytic and oxidative enzymes, and with a more delayed response results in a fiber‐type transformation from dominating myosin heavy chain isoform IIx to IIa and ultimately towards type I. Intramuscular connective tissue, collagen type IV content did not change in response to training, whereas degradation rate rose, indicating an increased turnover rate in connective tissue with training.</jats:p>