Access to physical activity and its relation to health

描述(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一定干预的试验组和与试验组进行比较的久坐对照组。对照组通常不能在笼子外进行身体活动，这构成了一个潜在的干预变量，可能会影响研究健康和压力，特别是氧化应激的结果。在笼子外不进行身体活动的动物可能会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，这可能会对它们的健康造成负面影响。在之前的研究中，控制组和试验组之间报告了氧化应激或健康的生物标志物的差异，研究人员可能高估了干预的效果，因为住房对久坐的对照组动物运动能力低下。如果动物研究的目的是推广到其他灵长类动物群体，包括人类，那么居住条件和进行身体活动的机会需要仔细考虑。这项研究的目的是比较氧化应激的生物标记物、各种健康参数、年龄和死亡原因，这些动物按三种不同的方式分组：a)单独生活在标准笼子中，无法在笼子外进行身体活动；2)生活在标准笼子中，每周两次，在一个大盒子里进行一小时的身体活动；以及3)生活在标准笼子中，经常可以在跑轮上锻炼。心血管参数(血压、心率、体重、血脂)将在动物的整个生命周期内每周进行监测。从尾静脉采集的血液样本将每两年采集一次，并分析抗氧化剂、血脂和催乳素。在死亡后，各种组织将立即被采集，并使用苏木毒素和伊红染色方法以及由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、脑垂体腺、肿瘤以及器官和组织的病理征象以及三组之间的差异。这项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记物，这些指标是由于一生中不同的体育活动造成的。这些结果将为设计动物实验研究衰老、选择性健康参数和氧化应激时住房和体力活动的重要性提供洞察力。

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.