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Department of Physiology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 232980551
| Abstract |
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Key Words: caloric restriction immobilization stress corticosterone levels glucocorticoid receptor lipid peroxidation
| Introduction |
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As a part of our ongoing studies on the biological effects of stress, we have recently shown that repeated immobilization stress (2 hr daily, for 2 months) to male Sprague-Dawley rats resulted in 25% inhibition in total body weight gain and a significant increase in the glucocorticoid receptor and lipid peroxidation levels in the liver and heart (10). In regard to the above, it is reported that Cal is stressful to animals due to metabolic substrate deprivation (11, 12). Therefore, in the present study, we have examined the biological effects of long-term Cal and compared it to those previously obtained by us for repeated immobilization stress (10, 13). Furthermore, since hardly any data are available regarding the biological effects of simultaneous administration of two stress regimens, we have determined whether the biological effects of simultaneous administration of Cal plus repeated immobilization stress are synergistic, additive, or adaptive.
| Materials and Methods |
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Animals.
All procedures involving animals were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Virginia Commonwealth University and the National Institute of Health (NIH) ``Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals'' (DHHS Publication No. [NIH] 80-23, Revised, Office of Science and Health Reports, Bethesda, MD 20205).
Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200240 g were used and housed singly. Sprague-Dawley rats show readily elevated basal and prolonged stress-induced plasma corticosterone levels; therefore, they are good experimental models to study stress related biological effects. Male animals were used to avoid variable steroids levels observed during the regular estrous cycle of female animals. Rats were kept one per cage in an animal room, separated from the laboratory under standard conditions of 12-hr light, 12-hr dark cycle (lights on at 7 AM) and temperature (22±1°C) for 1 week before and throughout the experiments. Animals were fed rodent chow and water ad libitum.
Methods.
Immobilization stress.
To prevent variation in plasma corticosterone levels from day to day, we carried out our immobilization stress experiments daily between 9 AM and 11AM. Because the plasma corticosterone level is lowest during the morning in rats, we chose morning hours to perform our experiments in order to get the maximum stress response. The immobilization stress was performed daily for 2 hr by putting the animals in Plexiglas tubes. Previously published results have showed that the peak level of plasma corticosterone was reached within 60 min of immobilization stress and lasted as long as the experimental duration (10, 13). Thus, we used a 2-hr stress protocol in our experiments. The experiments lasted for 8 weeks. All the animals were randomly divided into three groups. Six animals were used for each group and two cohorts of rats were used for this experiment (total 12 rats/group).
Protocol.
Group 1: Unstressed animals (control), fed ad libitum. Group II: 30% less food was given as consumed daily by the control group, the intake allowance was determined by the mean of the control group. Group III: 30% caloric restriction plus immobilization stress daily for two hours. Our studies represent the balanced reduction of the lipid, carbohydrate and protein content without reduction of its micronutrient content.
Following each stress session, animals were returned to their home cages and were given access to food and water for the remainder of the day. All animals were decapitated between 10 AM and 11 AM in the laboratory. After decapitation, about 3 ml of trunk blood was collected into tubes containing 100 µl of 0.3 M EDTA and centrifuged at 1500g for 20 min at 4°C using Sorvall RC-3 centrifuge. The supernatant plasma was collected and stored at -20°C until subsequent analysis. The liver, heart, thymus, kidneys, adrenals, and testes were rapidly removed, cleaned from connective tissues, etc., dried with paper towels, and weighed. The liver and heart were cut into small pieces, mixed thoroughly, and divided into two portions, one used for glucocorticoid receptor and HSP 70 determination and the other used for lipid peroxidation assay.
Preparation of tissue homogenate.
The liver, testes, heart, and thymus were mixed with 3 ml of ice-cold 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, containing 5% SDS, 1% ß-mercaptoethanol, a cocktail of protease inhibitors (0.1 mM PMSF, 1 µM leupeptin, and 1 µM aprotinin) and 10 mM sodium molybdate per gram of tissue. The mixtures were then homogenized using a Polytron tissue homogenizer (Brinkmann Instruments, Westbury, NY). The homogenate was centrifuged for 30 min at 14,000 revolutions per minute using an Eppendorf centrifuge 5415 C (Brinkmann Instruments, Westbury, NY). The supernatant was collected and stored at -75°C for future use. At the time of the analysis, samples were thawed and recentrifuged again with an Eppendorf centrifuge at 14,000 revolutions per minute for 30 min. Protein concentration was measured using standard Bio-Rad protein assay based on Bradford dye-binding procedure with bovine serum albumin as standard (14).
Western blotting.
SDSPAGE was performed by the method of Laemmli (15). Blotting followed a modified protocol by Towbin (16). Samples were mixed with an equal volume of SDS sample buffer (0.5 M Tris-HCl, pH 6.8, 10% glycerol, 10% SDS, 50 mM DTT, and 0.005% bromophenol blue) and heated in a boiling water bath for 4 min; 7.5% separating and 4% stacking SDSpolyacrylamide gels were prepared as described by Laemmli (15). Samples (adjusted to about 100 µg of protein) were loaded onto gel. Electrophoresis was done at 165 V using a Mini-Protean II slab gel apparatus. Immunoblotting was carried out by transferring proteins from slab gels to Immun-Lite membranes (no. 162-0170, Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). The membranes were blocked overnight in cold room with 10% non-fat dry milk in Tris-buffered saline (TBS, 20 mM Tris, 500 mM NaCl, pH 7.5). The membranes were then incubated for 1 hr at room temperature with GR polyclonal antibody (M-20, no. sc-1004; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) or HSP 70 antibody (StressGen, Canada) diluted 1:200 in TTBS (TBS, 0.05% Tween-20). The membranes were incubated with conjugate secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L)alkaline phosphatase conjugate, no. 170-6518, Bio-Rad) diluted 1:3000 and the membranes were detected with chemiluminescent substrate kit (no. 170-6534, Bio-Rad). Quantitation of GR and HSP 70 was performed by densitometric scanning of autoradiograms exposed within the linear range of the X-ray film using the Pharmacia LKB/Ultrasca XL 1D analysis program. Optical density (OD) reading for the GR and HSP 70 bands were determined from samples run in at least three different blots.
Lipid peroxidation determination.
The liver and heart (
200 mg) were immediately homogenized in ice-cold 1.15% KCl using a Polytron homogenizer (Brinkmann Instruments, Westbury, NY) to make 10% homogenate. The determination of the lipid peroxidation levels in the above tissues was performed by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method (17); 3 ml of 1% phosphoric acid followed by 1 ml of 0.6% 2-TBA were added to 0.5 ml of 10% homogenate. The mixture was heated in a boiling water bath for 45 min and then cooled; 4 ml of n-butanol was added to the cooled mixture for extraction. After the extraction, the n-butanol layer was separated by centrifugation at 2000g for 10 min. The n-butanol layer was removed, and the optical density of the n-butanol layer was measured spectrophotometrically at 535-nm wavelength. The TBA values were expressed as nmol of malonaldehyde per 50 mg of wet tissue.
Statistical analysis.
Results are presented as the mean ± SEM. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences among groups using a SigmaStat software package. A StudentNewmanKeuls (SNK) test was used to compare groups. Statistical differences were considered significant if P was less than 0.05.
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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Finally, we observed that caloric-restricted animals had a significant increase in HSP 70 levels in their testes. There is little available literature on the biological effects of caloric restriction on male sexual function (18). Since heat shock proteins are known to play a critical role in protecting cells from hyperthermia and various other stress-related damages (24), this observation may be clinically important. In support of this, previously, it has been reported that HSP 70 participates in synaptonomal complex function during meiosis in male germ cell and germ cells apoptosis. A lack of HSP 70 has resulted in failed meiosis and male infertility (25). Thus, results obtained by us showing an increase in HSP 70 levels afforded by caloric restriction in testes should have important beneficial implications regarding male optimum testicular function and male reproduction. From the results obtained, it is fair to postulate that glucocorticoids play an important role in the overall metabolic profile of caloric deprivation and in the mechanisms involved in the suppression of cell proliferation and the prolongation of life span in mammals (18, 27). In this regard, it is well known that biological effects of glucocorticoids are perplexing and at times paradoxical (18, 26). For example, glucocorticoids are needed in order to maintain proper cellular homeostasis by having anti-inflammatory activity and providing trophic factors during acute stress. On the other hand, prolonged and excessive glucocorticoid secretion disrupts the HPA axis (27), manifested by the pathophysiological symptoms of hypercortisolism as seen in hypertension, immune dysfunctions, osteoporosis, cardiac malfunctions, neuronal degeneration, insulin resistance, muscle wasting, etc. Thus, it is fair to conclude from the results presented here that moderate food deprivation by down regulation of glucocorticoid receptor enhances metabolic turnover in lipids, proteins, and DNA. However, paradoxically in this process that generates free radicals, curtails body weight gain, and cell proliferation, it also prolongs the life span. These observations are supported by the facts that (i) adrenalectomy inhibits the protection offered by caloric restriction and (28) is consistent with the hypothesis of Nelson et al. (11) suggesting that a daily period of mild hyperadrenocorticism induced by Cal may potentiate cellular and organismic homeostasis throughout the life span of rats similar to that observed during controlled periods of acute stress.
Although there are some distinct differences between the biological effects of caloric deprivation and repeated immobilization stress, overall, caloric stressed animals share many common biological effects with repeated immobilization stress animals previously reported by us (10, 13). Previously we have shown (10) that rats adapt to repeated 2 hr of daily immobilization stress delivered over 2 months with both stabilizing the rapid inhibition of total body weight gain as well as lowering the plasma corticosterone to the levels of almost control unstressed animals noted during the first 30 days of repeated immobilization stress regimen (13). We observed that 2 months of daily repeated immobilization stress to rats resulted in about 25% inhibition in body weight gain, increase in plasma corticosterone at set point higher, 60% increase in total (both cytosolic and nuclear) glucocorticoid receptor in liver, and almost 50% and 90% increase in lipid peroxidation levels in the liver and heart, respectively, compared with control unstressed animals. Therefore, we have asked the question as to whether the combined biological effects of these two stress regimens are synergistic, additive, or adaptive.
We hypothesized that the overall effects of prolonged administration of these two stressors should have additive effects on the inhibition of body weight gain, plasma corticosterone levels, and lipid peroxidation levels. To our surprise, the results obtained by us suggest that instead of additive effects, the combination of two stress regimens showed enhanced adaptation. In fact, combined stress regimen animals significantly maintained the characteristic biological effects observed in caloric stress animals alone. Thus it seems that once a certain threshold is reached, animals may adapt to a second stress regimen with universal tolerance to any subsequent stress. It is also possible that our observed lack of additional inhibition in weight gain, despite added stress, with elevation of plasma corticosterone levels, lipid peroxidation levels, etc. may not be due to enhanced adaptation to an additional stress but may yet act as another beneficial effect to caloric stress. In other words, caloric stress helped animals to adapt to their experience with repeated immobilization stress. Thus, the failure to see an additive effect with simultaneous administration of two stressors could be due to the possibility that (i) animals adapt more rapidly to simultaneous administration of two stressors as opposed to a single stress regimen or that (ii) both repeated immobilization treatment and Cal act through the same pathway. Additional studies using various combinations of other stressors are needed to answer this important question with obvious implications to our all understanding of how humans respond when confronted with multiple stress situations.
| Footnotes |
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| References |
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