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| Author(s): |
Patricia Tachinardi Andrade Silva
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) |
| Defense date: | 2012-06-19 |
| Examining board members: |
Gisele Akemi Oda;
Kênia Cardoso Bícego;
Jose Cipolla Neto
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| Advisor: | Gisele Akemi Oda |
| Abstract | |
In mammals, body temperature (Tb), as well as locomotor activity, changes during the day, exhibiting a rhythmic pattern. This daily rhythmicity is generated endogenously by circadian oscillators. Usually, the highest Tb values occur simultaneously to locomotor activity. Nevertheless, daily Tb changes are observed even in immobile individuals. This fact is evidence that the Tb rhythm is not a mere consequence of the acute effects of locomotor activity. The present work,which os performed in the research center CRILAR, in Argentina, had the objective of studying the circadian rhythm of Tb. in the rodent Ctenomys aff. knighti (tuco-tuco) and its temporal relationship with the locomotor activity rhythm. The characterization of the Tb rhythm in this animal is especially interesting because it inhabits the subterranean environment, which poses challenges to both rhythmic expression (because environmental cycles are either absent or have low amplitude) and thermoregulation (due to high relative humidity, hypoxic atmosphere and limited ventilation). We measured Tb and locomotor activity of tuco-tucos under controlled laboratory conditions. An initial characterization showed that the tuco-tuco\'s Tb rhythm persisted even in constant darkness and constant temperature. This rhythm synchronized to a daily light/dark cycle, with highest values occurring during the dark phase. Tb and locomotor activity rhythm were robustly associated in time. Then, we investigated whether the wheel running would modify the Tb rhythm amplitude, because this behavior involves intense muscular activity. However, we observed that the amplitude is only slightly altered upon running-wheel removal and that in the absence of the wheel tuco-tucos substitute running with other behaviors which also have acute effects on Tb. Applying a statistical method, which was also used to filter Tb data, we verified that there is a stronger correlation between Tb changes and activity in the beginning of the night. Finally, we investigated whether the Tb rhythm is also under control of the suprachiasmatic nuclei, which are knowingly the circadian oscillators for the locomotor activity rhythm. We used an approach which involved neurally intact animals, by comparing the rhythmic patterns of Tb and locomotor activity rhythms during the occurrence of a phenomenon called \"splitting\". In most cases, splitting patterns of both Tb and locomotor activity rhythms were identical, indicating a common temporal control of these two variables. Nevertheless, we observed, in one animal, differences between the two rhythms, which suggest that the circadian control might be even more complex. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 10/03565-0 - Characterization of the circadian rhythm of body temperature in subterranean rodents (Ctenomys cf. knighti) |
| Grantee: | Patricia Tachinardi Andrade Silva |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |