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Mouse strain dependent variation in exercise capacity
Author(s) -
Courtney Sean Michael,
Massett Michael P.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.618.21
Subject(s) - heritability , treadmill , strain (injury) , vo2 max , respiratory exchange ratio , zoology , medicine , endocrinology , biology , heart rate , genetics , blood pressure
The aim of this study was to characterize differences in exercise capacity across mouse strains and estimate the genetic contribution to exercise performance. Male mice from 15 inbred strains (n=6/strain) performed a graded exercise test to exhaustion as a measure of exercise capacity. Significant differences were found across strains, with the A/J mice having the lowest (18.4 ± 0.29 minutes) and the AKR/J mice having the highest (43.5 ± 0.32 minutes) exercise capacity. To estimate running economy, VO 2 , VCO 2 and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were measured during a sub‐maximal treadmill test. Significant strain‐dependent differences were found for VO 2 , VCO 2 and RER during sub‐maximal exercise. In addition, maximal running time was negatively correlated with RER (R 2 = −0.18, −0.19, −0.24) and positively correlated with VO 2 (R 2 = 0.11, 0.12, 0.08) at speeds of 10, 15 and 20 m/min, respectively. Broad sense heritability was calculated for maximum run time, and VO 2 and RER during sub‐maximal exercise. Heritability was ≥ 0.90 for maximum run time, 0.29 – 0.56 for sub‐maximal VO 2 and 0.19 – 0.50 for sub‐maximal RER. These results indicate that exercise capacity and running economy are positively related and mouse strain‐dependent. Furthermore, heritability estimates suggest that the contribution of genetic background varies across measures of exercise capacity. Supported by NIH grant HL085918 to M. P. M.