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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Biological Effects of Long-Term Caloric Restriction: Adaptation with Simultaneous Administration of Caloric Stress Plus Repeated Immobilization Stress in Rats

Department of Physiology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298–0551

In the present study, we have established the biological effects during 8 weeks of (i) caloric restriction (Cal) and (ii) simultaneous administration of Cal plus 2 hr daily immobilization stress using male Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were divided into three equal groups: (i) ad libitum fed, (ii) 30% restriction of food intake of the ad libitum diet, and (iii) 30% restriction of food intake plus 2 hr daily immobilization stress. Caloric-restricted animals gained only 30% of the total body weight of the unrestricted animals but received 70% of the food of those rats. Cal animals showed a significant loss in their relative liver and thymus weight and a significant gain in their relative adrenal and testis weight as compared to the control animals. Cal animals had almost 2-fold higher levels of plasma corticosterone levels with a dramatic decrease in the total glucocorticoid receptor (GR) levels in the liver, thymus, heart, and testis as compared to ad libitum fed control animals. Interestingly, Cal animals showed higher levels of lipid peroxidation in both the liver and heart, indicating increased oxidative activities in these tissues when compared with the control animals. In addition, Cal animals had increased heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70) content in the testis. Surprisingly, hardly any significant differences were observed in either total body weight gain, organ weights, plasma corticosterone levels, or lipid peroxidation between Cal animals and Cal plus immobilization-stressed animals. The results obtained suggest that (i) several stress-related responses such as inhibition of total body weight gain, increased adrenal weight, decreased thymus weight, increased plasma corticosterone, and lipid peroxidation levels in the liver and heart are associated with Cal, but (ii) no additional effects were observed on the parameters that were measured when two stress regimens were given simultaneously, suggesting that animals subjected to two stress regimens can protect themselves by controlling their stress-related thresholds of response through adaptation.

Key Words: caloric restriction • immobilization stress • corticosterone levels • glucocorticoid receptor • lipid peroxidation

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