Abstract
Upper airway obstruction can lead to growth retardation by unclear mechanisms. We explored the effect of upper airway obstruction in juvenile rats on whole-body energy balance, growth plate metabolism, and growth. We show that after seven weeks, obstructed animals’ ventilation during room air breathing increased, and animals grew less due to abnormal growth plate metabolism. Increased caloric intake in upper airway-obstructed animals did not meet increased energy expenditure associated with increased work of breathing. Decreased whole-body energy balance induced hindrance of bone elongation following obstruction removal, and array pathways regulating growth plate development and marrow adiposity. This is the first study to show that rapidly growing animals cannot consume enough calories to maintain their energy homeostasis, leading to an impediment in growth in the effort to save energy.
Highlights
Energy expenditure was calculated as VO2 × (3.815 + 1.232 × respiratory quotient), and was normalized to effective body mass
Resting energy expenditure was calculated as the mean value for a 30-min period with lowest energy expenditure
The respiratory quotient was calculated as the ratio of CO2 produced by O2 consumed by the body
Summary
Respiratory activity at room air was recorded by whole body plethysmography (Buxco, DSI, St. Paul, MN, USA). Metabolic activity was measured using a behavioral phenotyping system (Sable Instruments, Las Vegas, NV, USA), as previously described[30,61]. Animals were allowed a 24 h acclimation period followed by a 48 h sampling duration.
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