Indicators of physical stress during hindlimb suspension in Wistar rats / Indicadores de stress físico durante a suspensão dos membros inferiores em ratos Wistar

• Autor(a) principal: Dutra, Maurilio Tiradentes
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Girgis, Beshoy, Bovolini, Antonio, Costa, Catarina C., Nunes, Grace Fernanda, Duarte, José Alberto R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Veras
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.brazilianjournals.com.br/ojs/index.php/BRJD/article/view/17214
• topic: hindlimb suspension; physical stress; muscle wasting; oxidative damage

Hindlimb suspension (HS) has been used in animal research as a microgravity simulation model. However, physical stress to the animals during suspension has received little attention. The purpose of this work was to investigate physical stress, oxidative stress, and cross-sectional area (CSA) in rats submitted to hindlimb suspension. Twelve male Wistar rats were allocated into two groups: control (CON, n = 6); hindlimb suspension (HS, n = 6), for ten days. The following signs of physical stress were monitored: bristly hair, spleen hair, edema in the nose, edema or necrosis in the tail, edema in the hind legs, aggressiveness, redness in the dorsal region, body weight loss, and food intake. Samples of the soleus and tibialis anterior were prepared for CSA and carbonylated proteins analysis. The frequency of the signs of stress, except redness in the dorsal region, was significantly higher (P <.05) in the HS group. CSA of soleus (816.6µm2, 95%CI: 866.3-904.0 vs 1158.8mm2, 95%CI: 1171.9-1214.2) and tibialis anterior (1041.5µm2, 95%CI: 1119.1-1185.2 vs 1429.8µm2, 95%CI: 1479.2-1566.4) were lower in the HS group (P <.05). Carbonylated proteins in the soleus (2779.0 ± 1319.8 AU vs 1063.2 ± 289.2 AU) and tibialis anterior (1155.8 AU, 95%CI: 80.0-4064.5 vs 108.4 AU, 95%CI: 35.5-320.7) were higher in the HS group (P <.05). The suspension model evokes oxidative stress and reduced CSA. However, several signs of physical stress can occur. This indicates that hindlimb suspension models may introduce confounding factors that influence muscle atrophy and should be used cautiously.