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Voluntary Wheel Running in Mice Is Safe During Vaccinia Virus Infection and Does not Impair Vaccine Responses
Author(s) -
Pence Brandt D.,
Ryerson Melissa R.,
BravoCruz Ariana G.,
Woods Jeffrey A.,
Shisler Joanna L.
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.lb740
Subject(s) - vaccinia , virus , immune system , smallpox vaccine , virology , immunology , antibody , inoculation , medicine , biology , vaccination , recombinant dna , biochemistry , gene
Vaccinia virus (VACV) is a double‐stranded DNA virus of the poxvirus family. Since the eradication of smallpox, VACV is most commonly used as an experimental infection model, but VACV‐based vaccines (either live or attenuated) have received increased attention in previous years as vehicles for inoculation against other agents. Exercise has previously been shown to impair immune responses to viral infections. Although this has primarily been described in intense exercise, to our knowledge no study has examined voluntary wheel running (VWR) in mice, which impacts immune responses differently compared to forced exercise. Therefore, we examined the impact of VWR on infection and antibody responses to several strains of VACV. Male C57Bl/6J mice ran for 8 weeks on wheels or remained sedentary, then were infected with 10^5 PFU of pathogenic VACV strain Western Reserve (WR) intranasally or inoculated with 10^6 PFU of replication‐deficient VACV strain Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) intraperitoneally. Mice receiving WR were followed for morbidity and mortality for 14 days, while mice receiving MVA had blood collected prior to inoculation and at week 1, 2, and 4 post‐inoculation for examination of antibody responses. VWR in mice did not alter mortality or body weight loss due to WR infection, although food intake was significantly reduced in sedentary mice (p=0.05), indicating a potential protective effect of VWR against morbidity. VWR also did not alter anti‐VACV IgG response, although mice with wheel access had non‐significantly increased IgG (p=0.22). In conclusion, VWR is safe prior to and during VACV infection and does not impair vaccine responses to the attenuated MVA strain. VWR may increase immune responses and reduce morbidity, although the present study was underpowered to determine this. Support or Funding Information Funded by a grant from the American College of Sports Medicine to BDP.