title: Voluntary stand-up physical activity enhances endurance exercise capacity in rats.
abstract: Involuntary physical activity induced by the avoidance of electrical shock leads to improved endurance exercise capacity in animals. However, it remains unknown whether voluntary stand-up physical activity (SPA) without forced simulating factors improves endurance exercise capacity in animals. We examined the eff ects of SPA on body weight, cardiac function, and endurance exercise capacity for 12 weeks. Twelve male Sprague-Dawley rats (aged 8 weeks, n=6 per group) were randomly assigned to a control group (CON) or a voluntary SPA group. The rats were induced to perform voluntary SPA (lifting a load equal to their body weight), while the food height (18.0 cm) in cages was increased progressively by 3.5 every 4 weeks until it reached 28.5 cm for 12 weeks. The SPA group showed a lower body weight compared to the CON group, but voluntary SPA did not affect the skeletal muscle and heart weights, food intake, and echocardiography results. Although the SPA group showed higher grip strength, running time, and distance compared to the CON group, the level of irisin, corticosterone, genetic expression of mitochondrial biogenesis, and nuclei numbers were not affected. These findings show that voluntary SPA without any forced stimuli in rats can eff ectively reduce body weight and enhance endurance exercise capacity, suggesting that it may be an important alternative strategy to enhance endurance exercise capacity.
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae Yun
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Ryul
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Bum
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyo Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Robin A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Saranhuu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bolorerdene
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Nari
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung Doo
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, BK21 Project Team, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Body weight; Exercise endurance capacity; Voluntary physical activity