Figure 2. Voluntary aerobic exercise increases arterial resilience to acute mitochondria-specific stress. (A) and (B) Peak endothelium-dependent dilation (EDD) and EDD AUC to acetylcholine (ACh) alone (black bars, n=10-12/group, shown again here for clarity) and in the presence of rotenone (red hashed bars, n=5-8/group) in carotid arteries from young control (YC), old control (OC), young voluntary wheel running (YVR) and old voluntary wheel running mice (OVR). (C) Relative reduction in peak EDD in the presence vs. absence of rotenone in arteries from YC, OC, YVR and OVR mice. (D) EDD dose-response curves to ACh in the acute presence of rotenone in carotid arteries from YC, OC, YVR and OVR mice. Data are presented as means with error bars representing SEM. * p<0.05 within-group versus ACh alone (repeated measures ANOVA), # p<0.05 vs. all other groups (one-way ANOVA), a p<0.05 relative change in EDD vs. all other groups.