title: Aging rather than stress strongly influences amino acid metabolisms in the brain and genital organs of female mice.
abstract: Aging and stress affect quality of life, and proper nourishment is one of means of preventing this effect. Today, there is a focus on the amount of protein consumed by elderly people; however, changes in the amino acid metabolism of individuals have not been fully considered. In addition, the difference between average life span and healthy life years is larger in females than it is in males. To prolong the healthy life years of females, in the present study we evaluated the influence of stress and aging on metabolism and emotional behavior by comparing young and middle-aged female mice. After 28 consecutive days of immobilization stress, behavioral tests were conducted and tissue sampling was performed. The results showed that the body weight of middle-aged mice was severely lowered by stress, but emotional behaviors were hardly influenced by either aging or stress. Aging influenced changes in amino acid metabolism in the brain and increased various amino acid levels in the uterus and ovary. In conclusion, we found that aged mice were more susceptible to stress in terms of body-weight reduction, and that amino acid metabolisms in the brain and genital organs were largely influenced by aging rather than by stress.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Momoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kodaira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Kimie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minaminaka
authors.affiliation: Division for Experimental Natural Science, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Vishwajit S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasuo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan. Electronic address: furuse@brs.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furuse
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids
keywords: Aging; Amino acids; Emotional behavior; Female; Mice