What changes occur in squirrels during hibernation?

Body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and body weight all decline during hibernation.
Glycogen levels in the liver, cardiac muscle, and skeletal muscle tend to decrease. Interestingly, however, 40% of the animals studied maintained glycogen levels within the normal range. These variations may be related to fluctuations in oxygen intake at lowered body temperatures.
The lactate content of cardiac and skeletal muscle decreases significantly during hibernation. Considering the relatively anaerobic state that exists during this time, it is likely that glycolysis occurs at a slower rate, thus producing lower lactate levels.
Inorganic phosphate and adenosine polyphosphate both decrease during hibernation, the latter significantly. However, phosphocreatine increases significantly. This high-energy compound is the only one that shows a persistently higher level during hibernation.
Histochemically, glycogen loss occurs uniformly throughout the liver, cardiac muscle, and skeletal muscle. In all cases, these studies provided visual confirmation of the biochemical determinations.
Histochemically, phosphate appears scattered throughout cardiac and skeletal muscle in both non-hibernating and hibernating tissue samples.
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