Fig. 3

Alterations in response properties and phenotypes of female muscle afferents following I/R. a Although minor augmentations in cells responsive to heat or both metabolite solutions were observed, the only significant I/R-evoked difference in afferent phenotype distribution in females was a decreased population of cells that were only responsive to the low metabolite solution. b I/R also was found to decrease the mechanical threshold of individual mechanoreceptors, without altering mean peak instantaneous frequencies (IF) to mechanical stimulation (c). Increased firing to cold stimulation was observed following I/R in females (d), and a similar, but nonsignificant, trend toward I/R-evoked increased heat IF was also seen (e). Representative traces from naïve and 1d I/R ex vivo preparations showing responses to mechanical and thermal stimulation (f). Phenotype data is represented as the percentage of cells responsive to a given stimulus over the total tested in a condition. Mechanical thresholds of individual neurons are plotted with median and interquartile range demarcated. Peak IF is represented by the condition average ± error of the difference in means.*p < .05 between conditions