Regulation of Na + /K + -ATPase and Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPase in Brain-Gut Axis during Restraint Stress in Ageing Male Mice

Abstract

Ageing is believed to be a continuous process that begins at conception and proceeds until death. Little is known about the response of mice to ageing and restraint stress. Therefore, in this study, BALB/c mice of different age groups (1, 2, 4 and 6 months) were subjected to restraint stress of 30 min for two consecutive days. Ion transporters being the ion homeostasis regulators of the cell, we explored the response of Na + /K + -ATPase (NKA) and Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPase (PMCA) to restraint stress, an acute stressor. We examined the activity pattern of these ATPases in mice gut (fundus and pyloric regions of the stomach, the duodenum and the jejunum) and brain (cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum) in the stressed condition. The pattern of NKA and PMCA activities showed significant shift in stressed mice that corresponds with increasing age. This differential pattern of ion transporter response in the varied regions of the brain and gut present physiological evidence for a spatio-temporal modification of ion-transporter activity during ageing and restraint stress. Overall, the present data point to a vital role of brain-gut axis in the regulation of ion homeostasis in male mice.