One of the main factors that control vasoreactivity and angiogenesis is nitric oxide produced by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). We recently showed that knocking out eNOS induces an important reduction of mitochondrial oxidative capacity in slow-twitch skeletal muscle. Here we investigated eNOS's role in physical activity and contribution to adaptation of muscle energy metabolism to e...

Voluntary exercise can ameliorate insulin resistance. The underlying mechanism, however, remains to be elucidated. We previously demonstrated that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the liver plays an important role in hepatic insulin resistance in the setting of obesity. In this study, we tried to verify our hypothesis that voluntary exercise improves insulin resistance by reducing the ...

Mehl, Kristen A., J. Mark Davis, Julie M. Clements, Franklin G. Berger, Maria M. Pena, and James A. Carson. Decreased intestinal polyp multiplicity is related to exercise mode and gender in Apc mice. J Appl Physiol 98: 2219 –2225, 2005; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00975.2004.—Moderate-intensity treadmill running can alter male Apc mouse polyp formation. This purpose of this study was to examine wh...

Emerging evidence suggests that the muscle microenvironment plays a prominent role in cancer cachexia. We recently showed that NF-kB-induced Pax7 overexpression impairs the myogenic potential of muscle precursors in cachectic mice, suggesting that lowering Pax7 expression may be beneficial in cancer cachexia. We evaluated the muscle regenerative potential after acute injury in C26 colon carcino...

We examined the molecular and metabolomic effects of voluntary running wheel activity in late middle-aged male Sprague Dawley rats (16-17 months). Rats were assigned either continuous voluntary running wheel access for 8 weeks (RW+) or cage-matched without running wheel access (RW-). The 9 RW+ rats averaged 83 m/day (range: 8-163 m), yet exhibited both 84% reduced individual body weight gain (4...

Exercise is recognized to affect circadian rhythmicity in a variety of ways. It masks the expression of other behavioral and physiological rhythms, entrains the master pacemaker, and influences the free-running period of other rhythms. In this paper we study the influence of exercise on the organization of the timing system by analyzing the effect of voluntary locomotor activity on the circadia...

We studied the effects of long-term (i.e. 4 wk) voluntary exercise on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis in male mice. Voluntary exercise was provided by giving mice access to a running wheel, in which they indeed ran for about 4 km/d. Exercising mice showed similar body weights as control animals but presented less abdominal fat, lighter thymuses, and heavier adrenal glands. ...

Emerging research has shown that subtle factors during pregnancy and gestation can influence long-term health in offspring. In an attempt to be proactive, we set out to explore whether a nonpharmacological intervention, perinatal exercise, might improve offspring health. Female mice were separated into sedentary or exercise cohorts, with the exercise cohort having voluntary access to a running ...

PURPOSE Oxidative stress plays a key role in the onset and development of diabetes complications. In this study, we evaluated whether voluntary exercise could alleviate oxidative stress in the heart and blood of streptozotocin - induced diabetic rats. METHODS 28 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=7): control, exercise, diabetes and exercise + diabetes. Diabetes was ind...

The potential of physical exercise to decrease body weight, alleviate depression, combat aging and enhance cognition has been well-supported by research studies. However, exercise regimens vary widely across experiments, raising the question of whether there is an optimal form, intensity and duration of exertion that would produce maximal benefits. In particular, a comparison of forced and volu...