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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Increased physical activity under conditions of normoxia causes idiopathic cachexia in Heterocephalus glaber
1 Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
2 Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sirius, Russia
3 Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
4 Kulakov National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Mikhail A. Adrianov
Leninskie Gory, 1, bld. 40, 119992, Moscow, Russia; moc.liamg@hcstil.ay
Funding: the study was supported by the RSF grant No. 22-14-00160 "Comparative analysis of age signatures in long- and short-lived representatives of Heterocephalus glaber: caste-specificity of behavioral, biochemical and transcriptomic profiles".
Author contribution: Adrianov MA — manuscript authoring, conducting animal experiments; Bobrov M, Mamedov I — bioinformatics data analysis, microRNA sequencing; Manskih V — histologic assessment of tissues; Rachkova AA — manuscript authoring, bioinformatics data analysis, sample preparation and RNA extraction; Shelekhova AM, Averina OA — conducting animal experiments; Eldarov CM — bioinformatics data analysis; Vyssokikh MYu — experimental design, development of the concept, manuscript writing.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University (protocol No. 2/20 dated 16 November 2022).
Enrichment of habitat of the captive rodents Heterocephalus glaber (naked mole rats) allowing them to implement the innate behavioral pattern of digging through hard soil somehow led to the emergence of unusual animals showing signs of cachexia in the colony; these differed from other animals by the reduced body mass index associated with subcutaneous fat reduction. Furthermore, the animals itself showed aggressive eating behavior, but showed no weight gain even after stopping digging due to detachment of the camera with soil. The study aimed to clarify the pathogenetic mechanism underlying the reported phenomenon. For that animals showing signs of cachexia (one female and two males aged 4–5 years) were withdrawn from the colony, along with the animals showing no such signs (two females and one male aged 4–5 years) as controls. Histologic assessment of tissues revealed cardiac hypertrophy and hyperlipofuscinosis of the liver. Cardiac hypertrophy was also suggested by the results of the animal heart microRNA sequencing bioinformatics analysis that revealed elevated levels of microRNA responsible for the increased cell division activity and reduced apoptotic activity in the heart. These data suggest that the animals living in the habitat with the increased oxygen content (21% vs. 8% in the natural habitat, underground) experienced severe oxidative stress during physical activity, which resulted in dysfunction of body’s regulatory systems, increased metabolism at rest, cardiovascular system overload, and damage to organs and tissues. Thus, naked mole rats can have normal physical activity only under conditions of low oxygen content.
Keywords: oxidative stress, naked mole rat, cachexia, physical burden, lipofuscinosis, basal metabolic rate, hyperoxia