Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Telemetry provides new insights into entrainment of activity wheel circadian rhythms and the role of body temperature in the development of ulcers in the activity-stress paradigm

  • Papers
  • Published:
Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two methods of monitoring the circadian rhythm of activity in rodents: (1) an activity wheel cage, which detects the number of wheel revolutions, and (2) an internal radio transmitter, which records gross motor activity (GMA) of the animal, were compared in both normal circadian cycles and during the development of activity-stress ulcers. Rats were implanted with a biotelemetry transmitter that detected GMA and body temperature (BT) and placed in activity wheel cages. A 12 hour/12 hour light/dark cycle was maintained throughout the experiment. Subjects were subdivided into two groups: (1) unlimited access to activity wheel (AW) cages and (2) locked activity wheel (LW) cages. Following an ad-libitum habituation period, animals were allowed food access for 1 hour/day during the light. In the habituation period, the animals showed higher GMA and BT during the dark phase when housed in AW cages than in LW cages. Both GMA and number of wheel revolutions increased dramatically after the onset of food restriction for the AW animals. There was a deleterious drop in BT in AW animals as the food-restricted period continued and a significant correlation existed between severity of ulcerations and BT. The findings of this experiment demonstrate that the activity wheel imposes an alternation of the circadian cycle, which, in turn, influences rhythmicity through reentrainment. Additionally, in the activity-stress paradigm, a significant drop in BT correlates with severity of ulcerations. A disrupted circadian cycle, involving hypothermia, is proposed as the mechanism underlying the demise of animals in the activity-stress paradigm.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altemus, M., J. R. Glowa & D. L. Murphy (1993). Attenuation of food-restriction-induced running by chronic fluoxetine treatment.Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 29: 397–400.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Altemus, M., J. R. Glowa, E. Galliven, Y. M. Leong & D. L. Murphy (1996). Effects of serotonergic agents on food-restriction-induced hyperactivity.Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 53: 123–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beneke, W. M., S.E. Schulte & J. G. Vander Tuig (1995). An analysis of excessive running in the development of activity anorexia.Physiology & Behavior, 58: 451–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doerries, L. E., E. Z. Stanley & P. F. Aravich. 1991). Activity-based anorexia: Relationship to gender and activity-stress ulcers.Physiology and Behavior, 58: 945–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, D. M. & R. A. Boakes (1997). Activity-based anorexia in rats as failure to adapt to a feeding schedule.Behavioral Neuroscience, 11: 1195–1205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgar, D. M., C. E. Martin & W. C. Dement (1991a). Activity feedback to the mammalian circadian pacemaker: Influence on observed measures of rhythm period length.Journal of Biological Rhythms, 6: 185–199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edgar, D. M., T. S. Kilduff, C. E. Martin & W. C. Dement (1991b) Influence of running wheel activity on free-running sleep/wake and drinking circadian rhythms in mice.Physiology & Behavior, 50: 373–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eikelboom, R. & R. Mills (1988). A microanalysis of wheel running in male and female rats.Physiology & Behavior, 43: 625–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epling, W. F. & W. D. Pierce (1988). Activity-based anorexia: A biobehavioral perspective.International Journal of Eating Disorders, 7: 475–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epling, W. F., W. D. Pierce & L. Stefan. (1983). A theory of activity-based anorexia.International Journal of Eating Disorders, 3: 27–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gannon, R. L. & M. A. Rea (1995). Twelve-hour phase shifts of hamster circadian rhythms elicited by voluntary wheel running.Journal of Biological Rhythms, 10: 196–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glavin, G., W. Paré, G. Vincent & A. Tsuda. (1983). Effects of d-amphetamine on activity-stress ulcers in rats.Kurume Medical, Journal, 30: 31–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hara, C., K. Manabe & N. Ogawa. (1981). Influence of activity-stress on thymus, spleen and adrenal weights of rats: Possibility for an immunodeficiency model.Physiology & Behavior, 27: 243–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hellhammer, D. H., J. N. Hingtgen, S. E. Wade, P. A. Shea & M. H. Aprison. (1983). Serotonergic changes in specific areas of rat brain associated with activity-stress gastric lesions.Psychosomatic Medicine, 45: 115–122.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kanarek, R. B. & G. Collier. (1983). Self-starvation a problem of overriding the satiety signal?Physiology & Behavior, 30: 307–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, K. G. (1993). The activity-stress paradigm: Possible mechanisms and applications.The Journal of General Psychology, 120: 21–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, K. G. & L. J., Peacock. (1989). Feeding regime affects activity-stress ulcer production.Physiology & Behavior, 46: 743–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mistlberg, R. E. (1990). Circadian pitfalls in experimental designs employing food restriction.Psychobiology, 18: 23–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mistlberger, R. E. (1994). Circadian food-anticipatory activity: Formal models and physiological Mechanisms.Neuroscience Biobehavioral Review, 18: 171–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, A. D., J. C. Russell, T. W. M. Hunt, G. O. Wood, W. F. Epling & D. Pierce. (1995). Diurnal variation of intensive running in food-deprived rats.Canadian Journal of Physiological Pharmacology, 73: 1519–1523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murison, R. (2001). Is there a role for psychology in ulcer, disease?Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 36: 75–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, H. M., C. H. Wideman & G. R. Nadzam. (1993). Vasopressin deficiency and circadian rhythms during food-restriction stress.Peptides, 14: 1215–1220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • —, C. H. Wideman & G. R. Nadzam. (1996). The interation of vasopressin and the photic oscillator in circadian rhythms.Peptides, 17: 467–475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • —, C. H. Wideman & G. R. Nadzam. (1998). The role of vasopressin, in modulating circadian rhythm responses to phase shifts.Peptides, 19: 191–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, W. (1988). Food restriction, circadian disorder and longevity of rats and mice.Journal of Nutrition, 118: 284–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, W., L. Scheving & F. Halberg. (1975). Circadian rhythms in mice fed a single daily meal at different stages of lighting regimen.Journal of Nutrition, 105: 171–184.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paré, W. P. (1975). The influence of food consumption and running activity on the activity-stress ulcer in the rat.American Journal of Digestive Diseases, 20: 262–273.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • — (1976). Activity-stress ulcer in the rat: Frequency and chronicity.Physiology & Behavior, 16: 699–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — (1977). Body temperature and activity-stress ulcer in the rat.Physiology & Behavior, 18: 219–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — & V. P. Houser. (1973). Activity and food-restriction on gastric glandular lesions in the rat: The activity-stress ulcer.Bulletin of Psychonomic Sciences, 2: 213–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • — & L. J. Temple. (1973). Food deprivation, shock stress and stomach lesions in the rat.Physiology & Behavior, 11: 371–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, B. H. Natelson, G. P. Vincent & K. E. Isom. (1980). A clinical evaluation of rats dying in the activitystress paradigm.Physiology & Behavior, 25: 417–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, G. P. Vincent & B. H. Natelson. (1985). Daily feeding schedule and housing on incidence of activity-stress ulcer.Physiology & Behavior, 34: 423–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pittendrigh, C. S. & S. A. Daan. (1976). A functional analysis of circadian pacemakers in noctural rodents. IV. Entrainment: Pacemaker as clock.Journal of Comparative Physiology, 106: 291–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rea, M. A. & D. H. Hellhammer. (1984). Activity wheel stress: Changes in brain norepinephrine turnover and the occurrence of gastric lesions.Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics, 42: 218–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinberg, A. (1983). Chronobiology and nutrition In A. Reinberg and M. H. Smolensky (eds.),Biological Rhythms in Medicine. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruis, J. F., W. J. Reitveld & J. P. Buys. (1991). Properties of parametric photic entrainment of circadian rhythms in the rat.Physiology & Behavior, 50: 1233–1239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert, U. & F. Wollnik. (1993). Effect of photoperiod on the development of wheel-running activity in LEW/ZTM rats.Physiology & Behavior, 53: 1145–1150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, K. & N. Ogawa. (1990). Relationship between running activity rhytm and the development of activity-stress ulcer in rats.Japanese Journal of Pharmacology, 52: 421–429.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wideman, C. H. & H. M. Murphy. (1985). Effects of vasopressin deficiency, age and stress on stomach ulcer induction in rats.Peptides, 6(1): 63–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wideman, C. H., H. M. Murphy & G. R. Nadzam. (2000). Vasopressin deficiency provides evidence for separate circadian oscillators of activity and temperature.Peptides, 21: 811–816.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yi, I., M. E. Bays & F. K. Stephan. (1993). Stress ulcers in rats: The role of food intake, body weight and time of day.Physiology & Behavior, 54: 375–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yi, I., F. K. Stephan & M. E. Bays. (1995). Activity-stress ulcers in rats: The role of preentrainment to meal time.Physiology & Behavior, 58: 67–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, John Carroll University, 20700 North Park Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio, 44118, Cleveland, OH

    Helen M. Murphy, Cyrilla H. Wideman, Louise A. Aquila & George R. Nadzam

Authors
  1. Helen M. Murphy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cyrilla H. Wideman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Louise A. Aquila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. George R. Nadzam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Murphy, H.M., Wideman, C.H., Aquila, L.A. et al. Telemetry provides new insights into entrainment of activity wheel circadian rhythms and the role of body temperature in the development of ulcers in the activity-stress paradigm. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science 37, 228–241 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734183

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734183

Keywords

Search

Navigation