S. Ohishi et al., SWIMMING TRAINING IMPROVES BROWN-ADIPOSE-TISSUE ACTIVITY IN YOUNG ANDOLD MICE, Mechanism of ageing and development, 89(2), 1996, pp. 67-78
The impairment of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenic activity with
aging has been well documented. The current study investigated the ef
fect of swimming training on BAT activity in 2-month-old (young) and 2
6-month-old (old) male mice. The trained mice underwent a 6-week swimm
ing program (1 h/day, 5 days/week) in water at 35-36 degrees C, Compar
ed with young sedentary mice, the BAT-to-body mass ratio was markedly
smaller in old sedentary mice, accompanied by the decreased amount of
protein, whereas there was no significant difference in uncoupling pro
tein (UCP) content, UCP mRNA expression, or guanosine 5'-diphosphate (
GDP) binding (an index of UCP activity) between young and old mice. Me
anwhile, the swimming training definitely increased BAT mass and its p
rotein content in both the young and old mice, suggesting hypertrophy
and hyperplasia. In addition, after the swimming training, the amounts
of protein, UCP antigen, and GDP binding in the mitochondria recovere
d from BAT of both mice increased significantly as compared with the r
espective sedentary groups, while the expression of UCP mRNA did not v
ary substantially. These findings suggest that, irrespective of age, s
wimming training enhances the thermogenic activity and capacity in BAT
of mice.