Abstract
BackgroundThe stress response is a critical factor in the training of equine athletes; it is important for performance and for protection of the animal against physio-pathological disorders.In this study, the molecular mechanisms involved in the response to acute and strenuous exercise were investigated using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).ResultsQuantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect modifications in transcription levels of the genes for matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and interleukin 8 (IL-8), which were derived from previous genome-wide expression analysis. Significant up-regulation of these two genes was found in 10 horses that had completed a race of 90–120 km in a time-course experimental design.ConclusionThese results suggest that MMP-1 and IL-8 are both involved in the exercise-induced stress response, and this represents a starting point from which to understand the adaptive responses to this phenomenon.
Highlights
The stress response is a critical factor in the training of equine athletes; it is important for performance and for protection of the animal against physio-pathological disorders.In this study, the molecular mechanisms involved in the response to acute and strenuous exercise were investigated using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
Changes in the relative expression of the genes encoding interleukin 8 (IL-8) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) were checked for statistical significance using a non-linear mixed-effects model for repeated data using the nlme library from R [21], using version 2.7.2 of the software R
The resulting bar chart (Figure 1) shows an up-regulation (2.74 × for IL-8, P < 0.001; 5 × for MMP-1, P < 0.001 – log base 2 induction) immediately after the race, and a non-significant difference between basal and 24 hours values (IL-8 P = 0.1464, MMP-1 P = 0.3689). These results demonstrate a significant up-regulation of MMP-1 and IL-8 induced by exercise in the PBMC of endurance horse in an in vivo system with a consistent number of animals
Summary
The stress response is a critical factor in the training of equine athletes; it is important for performance and for protection of the animal against physio-pathological disorders. The molecular mechanisms involved in the response to acute and strenuous exercise were investigated using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Exercise is followed by an intensity-dependent increase in sympathetic activity, which involves activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary axis. This leads to systemic secretion of catecholamines, which influence various immunological processes, including lymphocyte proliferation and differentiation, and production of cytokines [3,4]. Knowledge of the molecular mechanism of acute exercise-induced stress is a fundamental prerequisite for the planning of appropriate training schedules to improve the performance and maintain the welfare of the athlete
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