A comparison of the metabolic effects of treadmill and wheel running exercise in mouse model

Abstract

Aerobic exercise is well known to have a positive impact on body composition, muscle strength, and oxidative capacity. In animal model, both treadmill and wheel running exercise modalities have become more popular, in order to study physiological adaptation associated with aerobic exercise. However, few studies have compared physiological adaptations in response to either treadmill exercise (TE), or voluntary wheel running exercise (WE). We therefore compared each exercise intervention on body composition and oxidative markers in male C57BL/6 N mice. The total distance run was remarkably higher in the WE group than in the TE group. Both forms of exercise resulted in the reduction of body weight, fat mass, and adipocyte size. However, the average for grip strength of WE was higher than for control and TE. Interestingly, PGC-1α expression was increased in the gastrocnemius (glycolytic-oxidative) and soleus (oxidative) muscle of TE group, whereas WE showed a significant effect on PGC-1α expression only in the soleus muscle. However, muscle fiber type composition was not shifted remarkably in either type of exercise. These results suggest that TE and WE may exert beneficial effects in suppressing metabolic risks in mouse model through attenuating body weight, fat mass, size, and increase in mitochondria biogenesis marker, PGC-1α.

Oral fucoidan improves muscle size and strength in mice

“…In contrast to previous studies (Chen et al, 2014), there was no improvement in grip strength parameters in either the FUC or FUC+EX groups (Figure 1c,d). Consistent with previous studies (Kim et al, 2020), treadmill exercise did not significantly improve grip strength in the VEH experimental groups (Figure 1c,d).…”

Skeletal muscle effects of two different 10‐week exercise regimens, voluntary wheel running, and forced treadmill running, in mice: A pilot study

“…Consistent with recent data by Kim et al., 2020, we found a trend toward increased weight of G in response to VWR. However, inconsistently, this tendency was also (even more strongly) observed in T, a muscle where Kim et al saw no effect.…”

“…Since weight gain was not significantly different, it is likely that food consumption was higher in the VWR group, which might also have affected the results. This assumption is supported by recent data by Kim et al., 2020, who also compared the effects of FTR and VWR: The authors found increased food intake in exercising, particularly in VWR, mice. Interestingly, however, whereas Kim et al reported decreased gains in body weight in exercising, particularly in VWR, mice, in our study, weight gain in FTR (Schmitt et al., 2018) and VWR (this study) mice was not different from that observed in sedentary controls.…”

“…With regard to endurance exercise training, the two main regimens are moderate‐intensity forced treadmill running (FTR), usually on 3–5 days per week for 20–90 min, at speeds of about 10–20 m/min and 0–15° incline, or voluntary wheel running (VWR), for which animals’ cages are equipped with running wheels and the distances run are documented (Goh and Ladiges, 2015; Manzanares et al., 2018). While in general, skeletal muscle adaptation reactions can be observed with both protocols (for review, see Guo et al., 2020), to our knowledge, their specific effects in similar cohorts of mice have only been directly compared in one recent study (Kim et al., 2020), with a particular focus on body composition, metabolism and muscle force. Consequently, little is known on the differential effects of the two training regimens on skeletal muscle molecular biology, specifically effects on gene expression and miRNA concentrations.…”

Physical Activity Shapes the Intestinal Microbiome and Immunity of Healthy Mice but Has No Protective Effects against Colitis in MUC2 −/− Mice

“…Following weaning at 5 weeks of age, animals were randomly assigned to individual cages under one of four groups ( n = 8 per group): wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice with access to a free running wheel (VWR) or a locked wheel (SED) and Muc2 −/− mice with access to a free wheel (MVWR) or a locked wheel (MSED). We chose wheel running as a model of PA over forced exercise, as mice voluntarily run higher total distances on free wheels than when forced on a treadmill ( 73 ). Forced exercise can also cause significant stress in rodents ( 74 ) and has been shown to exacerbate colitis severity in C57BL/6 mice ( 9 ).…”