The different impact of a high fat diet on dystrophic mdx and control C57Bl/10 mice
Access Status
Authors
Date
2011Type
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Source Title
ISSN
School
Collection
Abstract
The absence of functional dystrophin protein in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and dystrophic mdx mice leads to fragile myofibre membranes and cycles of myofibre necrosis and regeneration. It is proposed that both DMD patients and mdx mice have an altered metabolism and impaired energy status and that nutritional supplementation may reduce the severity of dystropathology. This research compares the in vivo responses of dystrophic mdx and normal control C57Bl/10 mice to a high protein (50%) or a high fat (16%) diet. Consumption of a high protein diet had minimal effects on the body composition or muscle morphology in both strains of mice. In contrast, differences between the strains were seen in response to the high fat diet; this response also varied between mdx mice aged <24 weeks, and mdx mice aged 24 - 40 weeks. C57Bl/10 mice demonstrated many negative side effects after consuming the high fat diet, including weight gain, increased body fat, and elevated inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, after consuming the high fat diet for 16 weeks the mdx mice (< 24 weeks) remained lean with minimal fat deposition and were resistant to changes in body composition. These results support the proposal that energy metabolism in dystrophic mdx mice is altered compared to normal C57Bl/10 mice and this enables the mdx mice to better metabolise the high fat diet and avoid fat deposition. However, older mdx mice (24 - 40-week-old), with increased energy intake, exhibited some mild adverse effects of a high fat diet but to a far lesser extent than age-matched C57Bl/10 mice. Benefits of the high fat diet on dystrophic muscles of young mice were demonstrated by the significantly increased running ability (km) of voluntarily exercised mdx mice and significantly reduced myofibre necrosis in 24-week-old sedentary mdx mice. These novel data clearly identify an 'altered' response to a high fat diet in dystrophic mdx compared to normal C57Bl/10 mice. Our data indicate that the high fat diet may better meet the energy needs of mdx mice to reduce muscle damage and improve muscle function.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Crabb, Hannah; Terrill, J.; Shavlakadze, T.; Tonkin, J.; Arthur, P.; Grounds, M. (2012)The extent of muscle pathology in sedentary adult mdx mice is very low and treadmill exercise is often used to increase myofibre necrosis; however, the early events in dystrophic muscle and blood in response to treadmill ...
-
Crabb, Hannah; Marini, J.; Sosa, H.; Castillo, L.; Grounds, M.; Fiorotto, M. (2014)The skeletal muscles in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the mdx mouse model lack functional dystrophin and undergo repeated bouts of necrosis, regeneration, and growth. These processes have a high metabolic cost. However, ...
-
Matthews, V.; Hollingshead, Rachel; Koch, H.; Croft, K.; Ward, Natalie (2018)Background. Nitric oxide (NO) is an important vascular signaling molecule that plays a role in vascular homeostasis. A reduction in NO bioavailability is thought to contribute to endothelial dysfunction, an early risk ...