Physical Activity and Food Consumption in High- and Low-Active Inbred Mouse Strains

Abstract

Purpose To determine the effect of innate activity level and running wheel access on food consumption in high-active (SWR/J) low-active (DBA/2J) mice. Methods Two strains of inbred mice were used in this study due to their high activity level (SWR/J) and low activity level (DBA/2J). The mice were housed in individual cages, and half of the mice in each strain had free access to running wheels in their cages, while the other mice received no running wheel. All mice consumed standard chow and water ad libitum for 13 weeks during the study period. Running-wheel activity (daily), food consumption (bi-weekly), and body mass (weekly) were recorded. Results SWR/J runners consumed more food (6.0±0.4g/day) than SWR/J non-runners (4.7±0.2g/day; p=0.03), DBA/2J runners (4.6±0.2g/day; p=0.02), and DBA/2J non-runners (4.2±0.2g/day; p=0.006). SWR/J non-runners consumed more food than DBA/2J non-runners (p=0.03). Average daily distance and duration were significantly greater for the SWR/J runners (6.4±0.7km/day and 333.6±40.5min/day, respectively) compared to the DBA/2J runners (1.6±0.4km/day and 91.3±23.0min/day, respectively). There was a significant correlation between food consumption and distance (r=0.74, p<0.001), duration (r=0.68, p<0.001), and speed (r=0.58, p<0.001), respectively, in all mice. However, when considering the individuals strains, the relationship between running-wheel activity and food consumption was only statistically significant for the SWR/J mice. Conclusion Higher running-wheel activity in mice was associated with increased food consumption in the SWR/J mice but not the DBA/2J mice. In DBA/2J mice the addition of a running wheel did not result in increased food consumption, suggesting energy expenditure of non-wheel cage activity in the control DBA/2J mice was similar to the energy expenditure of the wheel activity since body mass was similar between the two groups.

Effects of loaded voluntary wheel exercise on performance and muscle hypertrophy in young and old male C57Bl/6J mice

“…Long‐term access to a voluntary running wheel (greater than 4 weeks) increased food intake and decreased adiposity among adult male and female mice (Swallow et al., ) and rats (Tokuyama et al., ). However, studies in adult male C57Bl/6J and DBA/J mice (strains considered to have lower running activity) found no difference in food consumption after 3 to 13 weeks of voluntary wheel exposure (Harri et al., ; Jung et al., ).…”

Higher voluntary wheel running activity following endurance exercise due to oral taurine administration in mice

“…Dumke et al reported that insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle was significantly higher in mice genetically selected for high wheel running activity 6) . In addition, a positive correlation between running distance and food consumption has been demonstrated in mice, reflecting a higher energy demand for wheel running activity 7,8) . Because endurance exercise depletes the glycogen storage in liver and skeletal muscle, higher voluntary wheel running activity during the postexercise phase may reflect an improvement in metabolism in the form of faster glycogen resynthesis and/or higher mobilization of fatty acids.…”

Effects of early-onset voluntary exercise on adult physical activity and associated phenotypes in mice

“…Introduction Q8 53 Human obesity and its negative health consequences are caused by 54 interactions among diet, level of physical activity, environmental fac- 55 tors, sex, genetic predisposition, and socio-cultural factors [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Like 56 obesity itself, levels of physical activity and diet/caloric intake are prod- 57 ucts of both genes and numerous environmental effects acting across 58 ontogenetic development. Some human studies have identified early- 59 life risk factors for a sedentary lifestyle (e.g., [10,7]) and parental charac- 60 teristics that are somewhat predictive of adolescent physical activity…”