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Phenotypic and molecular differences between rats selectively bred to voluntarily run high vs. low nightly distances.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the present study was to partially phenotype male and female rats from generations 8-10 (G8-G10) that had been selectively bred to possess low (LVR) vs. high voluntary running (HVR) behavior. Over the first 6 days with wheels, 34-day-old G8 male and female LVRs ran shorter distances (P < 0.001), spent less time running (P < 0.001), and ran slower (P < 0.001) than their G8 male and female HVR counterparts, respectively. HVR and LVR lines consumed similar amounts of standard chow with or without wheels. No inherent difference existed in PGC-1? mRNA in the plantaris and soleus muscles of LVR and HVR nonrunners, although G8 LVR rats inherently possessed less NADH-positive superficial plantaris fibers compared with G8 HVR rats. While day 28 body mass tended to be greater in both sexes of G9-G10 LVR nonrunners vs. G9-G10 HVR nonrunners (P = 0.06), body fat percentage was similar between lines. G9-G10 HVRs had fat mass loss after 6 days of running compared with their prerunning values, while LVR did not lose or gain fat mass during the 6-day voluntary running period. RNA deep sequencing efforts in the nucleus accumbens showed only eight transcripts to be >1.5-fold differentially expressed between lines in HVR and LVR nonrunners. Interestingly, HVRs presented less Oprd1 mRNA, which ties in to potential differences in dopaminergic signaling between lines. This unique animal model provides further evidence as to how exercise may be mechanistically regulated.

SUBMITTER: Roberts MD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3680752 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phenotypic and molecular differences between rats selectively bred to voluntarily run high vs. low nightly distances.

Roberts Michael D MD Brown Jacob D JD Company Joseph M JM Oberle Lauren P LP Heese Alexander J AJ Toedebusch Ryan G RG Wells Kevin D KD Cruthirds Clayton L CL Knouse John A JA Ferreira J Andries JA Childs Thomas E TE Brown Marybeth M Booth Frank W FW

American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 20130403 11

The purpose of the present study was to partially phenotype male and female rats from generations 8-10 (G8-G10) that had been selectively bred to possess low (LVR) vs. high voluntary running (HVR) behavior. Over the first 6 days with wheels, 34-day-old G8 male and female LVRs ran shorter distances (P < 0.001), spent less time running (P < 0.001), and ran slower (P < 0.001) than their G8 male and female HVR counterparts, respectively. HVR and LVR lines consumed similar amounts of standard chow wi ...[more]

PMID: 23552494

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Project description:Heavy alcohol consumption has detrimental neurologic effects, inducing widespread neuronal loss in both fetuses and adults. One proposed mechanism of ethanol-induced cell loss with sufficient exposure is an elevation in concentrations of bioactive lipids that mediate apoptosis, including the membrane sphingolipid metabolites ceramide and sphingosine. While these naturally-occurring lipids serve as important modulators of normal neuronal development, elevated levels resulting from various extracellular insults have been implicated in pathological apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes in several neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders. Prior work has shown that acute administration of ethanol to developing mice increases levels of ceramide in multiple brain regions, hypothesized to be a mediator of fetal alcohol-induced neuronal loss. Elevated ceramide levels have also been implicated in ethanol-mediated neurodegeneration in adult animals and humans. Here, we determined the effect of chronic voluntary ethanol consumption on lipid profiles in brain and peripheral tissues from adult alcohol-preferring (P) rats to further examine alterations in lipid composition as a potential contributor to ethanol-induced cellular damage. P rats were exposed for 13 weeks to a 20% ethanol intermittent-access drinking paradigm (45 ethanol sessions total) or were given access only to water (control). Following the final session, tissues were collected for subsequent chromatographic analysis of lipid content and enzymatic gene expression. Contrary to expectations, ethanol-exposed rats displayed substantial reductions in concentrations of ceramides in forebrain and heart relative to non-exposed controls, and modest but significant decreases in liver cholesterol. qRT-PCR analysis showed a reduction in the expression of sphingolipid delta(4)-desaturase (Degs2), an enzyme involved in de novo ceramide synthesis. These findings indicate that ethanol intake levels achieved by alcohol-preferring P rats as a result of chronic voluntary exposure may have favorable vs. detrimental effects on lipid profiles in this genetic line, consistent with data supporting beneficial cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects of moderate ethanol consumption.

Dataset Information

Phenotypic and molecular differences between rats selectively bred to voluntarily run high vs. low nightly distances.

Publications

Phenotypic and molecular differences between rats selectively bred to voluntarily run high vs. low nightly distances.

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