Housing conditions modulate spontaneous physical activity, feeding behavior, aerobic running capacity and adiposity in C57BL/6J mice

Author(s)

Menezes Scariot, Pedro Paulo ^[1] ; Manchado-Gobatto, Fulvia B. ^[1] ; Prolla, Tomas A. ^[2] ; Masselli Dos Reis, Ivan G. ^[1] ; Gobatto, Claudio Alexandre ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Sch Appl Sci, Lab Appl Sport Physiol, Pedro Zaccaria St 1-300, BR-13484350 Limeira, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Genet & Med Genet, Madison, WI - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Hormones and Behavior; v. 115, SEP 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

There is evidence of reduced adiposity in rodents living in a large cages (LC) as compared to animals housed in small cages (SC). Because spontaneous physical activity (SPA) provides an important portion of the total daily energy expenditure, an increase of SPA in rodents kept in LC could explain their reduced body fat accumulation. The relationship between SPA and components of physical fitness (i.e. aerobic and anaerobic fitness and body leanness) has not been previously determined. We examined the effects of eight weeks of LC exposure on SPA, body composition, feeding behavior, as well as aerobic and anaerobic running capacity in adult C57BL/6J mice. Male mice were housed in cages of two different sizes for 8 weeks: a small (SC, n = 10) and large (LC n = 10) cages with 1320 cm(2) and 4800 cm(2) floor space, respectively. SPA was measured gravimetrically, and food and water intake were recorded daily. Mice had critical velocity (CV) and anaerobic running capacity (ARC) evaluated at the beginning, middle course (4th week) and at the end of study (8th week). Despite non-significant differences in each week LC-mice were more active than SC-mice by considering all SPA values obtained in the entire period of 8 weeks. The difference in SPA over the whole day was mainly due to light phase activity, but also due to activity at dark period (from 6 pm to 9 pm and from 5 am to 6 am). LC-mice also exhibited higher food and water intake over the entire 8-wk period. LC-mice had lower content of fat mass (% of the eviscerated carcass) than SC-mice (SC: 8.4 +/- 0.4 vs LC: 6.3 +/- 0.3, p < 0.05). LC-mice also exhibited reduced epididymal fat pads (% of body mass) compared to SC-mice (SC: 1.3 +/- 0.1 vs LC: 0.9 +/- 0.1, p < 0.05) and retroperitoneal fat pads (SC: 0.4 +/- 0.05 vs LC: 0.2 +/- 0.02, p < 0.05). The LC-group showed significantly higher critical velocity than SC-group at the fourth week (SC: 14.9 +/- 0.6 m.min(-1) vs LC: 18.0 +/- 0.3 m.min(-1), p < 0.05) and eighth week (SC: 17.1 +/- 0.5 m.min(-1) vs LC: 18.8 +/- 0.6 m.min(-1), p < 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that eight weeks of LC housing increases SPA of C57BL/6J mice, and this may lead to reduced fat accumulation as well as higher aerobic fitness. Importantly, our study implies that SC limits SPA, possibly generating experimental artifacts in long-term rodent studies. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/10201-4 - Effects of aerobic physical training and the availability of wide space housing on the spontaneous physical activity, central and peripheral metabolic and molecular responses
• Grantee: Claudio Alexandre Gobatto
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/00272-6 - Effects of caloric restriction mediated by SIRT3 in the aerobic and anaerobic capacities of mice: relations with the spontaneous activity, metabolic parameters and muscle mitochondrial function in aging process
• Grantee: Fúlvia de Barros Manchado Gobatto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• FAPESP's process: 15/01362-9 - Effects of age, caloric restriction diet (Cr) and SIRT3 on spontaneous activity, behavior and oxidative mediators (NO, NOS and orexin) and hypothalamic mitochondrial respiration
• Grantee: Claudio Alexandre Gobatto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research