Access to physical activity and its relation to health

描述（由申请人提供）：关于氧化应激、衰老和疾病机制的动物研究通常包括接受某种干预的实验组和与实验组比较的久坐对照组。通常使用不能在笼子外进行身体活动的对照组，这构成了一个潜在的干预变量，可能影响调查健康和压力，特别是氧化应激的研究结果。在笼子外不参加任何身体活动的动物可能有不同的内源性促氧化剂和抗氧化剂水平，随着时间的推移可能会对它们的健康产生负面影响。在先前的研究中，研究人员报告了对照组和实验组之间氧化应激或健康的生物标志物的差异，由于住房对久坐不动的对照动物的低运动影响，研究人员可能高估了干预的影响。如果动物研究的目的是推广到包括人类在内的其他灵长类动物种群，那么就需要仔细考虑住房条件和获得体育活动的机会。本研究的目的是比较生物标记物的氧化压力,各种各样的健康参数,年龄和死亡原因在动物分为三个不同的方面:a)完全生活在一个标准笼没有进入笼子外的身体活动,2)生活在一个标准笼两次每周一个小时的体育活动在一个大盒子,和3)生活在一个标准笼与定期访问运动跑轮。心血管参数（血压、心率、体重、血脂）将在动物的整个生命周期中每周监测一次。每半年采集一次尾静脉血样，分析抗氧化剂、脂质和催乳素。死后立即采集各种组织，用血凝素和伊红染色法和兽医执行的标准尸检程序进行分析。将分析脑、神经节、神经营养生长因子、脑垂体、肿瘤、器官和组织的病理特征和三组之间的差异。本研究的结果将区分心血管参数、发病率、死亡率和氧化应激的生物标志物，因为在生命周期中不同的身体活动。这些结果将为设计研究衰老、选择性健康参数和氧化应激的动物实验提供关于住房和身体活动重要性的见解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Animal studies on mechanisms of oxidative stress, aging, and disease often include an experimental group receiving a certain intervention and a sedentary control group to which the experimental group is compared. The common use of a control group having no access to physical activity outside the cage poses a potential intervening variable that may affect results of studies investigating health and stress, in particular, oxidative stress. Animals participating in no physical activity outside of their cage may have different endogenous prooxidant and antioxidant levels, which over time may negatively affect their health. In previous studies where differences in biomarkers of oxidative stress or health were reported between control and experimental groups, investigators may have overestimated the effects of the intervention due to the hypokinetic effects of housing on the sedentary control animals. If animal studies are intended to generalize to other primate populations, including humans, then housing conditions and access to physical activity need to be carefully considered. The purpose of this study is to compare biomarkers of oxidative stress, a variety of health parameters, age and cause of death in animals that are grouped in three distinct ways: a) living solely in a standard cage with no access to physical activity outside the cage, 2) living in a standard cage with twice weekly one hour periods of physical activity in a large box, and 3) living in a standard cage with regular access to exercise on a running wheel. Cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, blood lipids) will be monitored weekly over the life span of the animals. Blood samples from a tail vein will be collected biannually and analyzed for antioxidants, lipids, and prolactin. Immediately after death, various tissues will be harvested and analyzed using a hematoxin and eosin staining method, and standard autopsy procedures performed by a veterinarian. Brain, ganglia, neurotrophic growth factor, pituitary gland, tumors, and organs and tissues will be analyzed for signs of pathology and differences among the three groups. Results of this study will distinguish cardiovascular parameters, morbidity, mortality, and biomarkers of oxidative stress due to different access to physical activity over the life span. These results will provide insight about the importance of housing and physical activity when designing animal experiments to study aging, selective health parameters, and oxidative stress.