Timothy I. Musch

Tim Musch

University Distinguished Professor

of Exercise Physiology

PhD (Exercise Physiology), University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1981

Phone: 785-532-4523
Email: musch@vet.k-state.edu

Research Interests

Congestive heart failure (CHF) affects approximately 500,000 individuals per year making it the #2 disability in the elderly. The hallmark of this disease is the inability of the afflicted individuals to perform exercise. The factors that contribute to exercise intolerance are poorly understood. Although left ventricular (LV) pump dysfunction contributes greatly to exercise intolerance found in these individuals, other factors independent of LV pump function play significant roles including skeletal muscle blood flow abnormalities along with intrinsic pertubations in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling and metabolism.

In my laboratory, CHF is experimentally induced in rats by surgically ligating the left main coronary artery to induce a very large myocardial infarction. This animal model of CHF is then used to examine the mechanisms contributing the skeletal muscle blood flow abnormalities and the intrinsic pertubations found in the skeletal muscle that accompany this syndrome. Various types of experiments, ranging from treadmill running studies to examination of the responses of isolated single blood vessels to various drugs, are used to deduce how CHF affects blood vessel and skeletal muscle function.

Selected Publications

Ganta CK, Blecha F, Ganta RR, Helwig BG, Parimi S, Lu N, Fels RJ, Musch TI, Kenney MJ. Hyperthermia-enhanced splenic cytokine gene expression is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Physiol Genomics. 2004 Oct 4;19(2):175-83. Epub 2004 Aug 03.

Kano Y, Padilla D, Hageman KS, Poole DC, Musch TI. Downhill running: a model of exercise hyperemia in the rat spinotrapezius muscle. J Appl Physiol. 2004 Sep;97(3):1138-42. Epub 2004 May 07.

Behnke BJ, Delp MD, McDonough P, Spier SA, Poole DC, Musch TI. Effects of chronic heart failure on microvascular oxygen exchange dynamics in muscles of contrasting fiber type. Cardiovasc Res. 2004 Feb 1;61(2):325-32.

Brown DA, Jew KN, Sparagna GC, Musch TI, Moore RL. Exercise training preserves coronary flow and reduces infarct size after ischemia-reperfusion in rat heart. J Appl Physiol. 2003 Dec;95(6):2510-8. Epub 2003 Aug 22.

Musch TI, Eklund KE, Hageman KS, Poole DC. Altered regional blood flow responses to submaximal exercise in older rats. J Appl Physiol. 2004 Jan;96(1):81-8. Epub 2003 Sep 05.

Stebbins CL, Symons JD, Hageman KS, Musch TI. Endogenous prostaglandins limit angiotensin-II induced regional vasoconstriction in conscious rats. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2003 Jul;42(1):10-6.

Helwig B, Schreurs KM, Hansen J, Hageman KS, Zbreski MG, McAllister RM, Mitchell KE, Musch TI. Training-induced changes in skeletal muscle Na+-K+ pump number and isoform expression in rats with chronic heart failure. J Appl Physiol. 2003 Jun;94(6):2225-36. Epub 2003 Jan 31.

Richardson TE, Kindig CA, Musch TI, Poole DC. Effects of chronic heart failure on skeletal muscle capillary hemodynamics at rest and during contractions. J Appl Physiol. 2003 Sep;95(3):1055-62. Epub 2003 May 09.