Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?

Obesity and physical inactivity are established key risk factors in the development of skeletal muscle insulin-resistance and type II diabetes in human and domestic animal populations. Wild animals are similarly exposed to these risk factors as a result of captivity. This study aimed at describing t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Feldmann, Daneil
Other Authors: Kohn, Tertius
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: MRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicine 2017
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613165974454272
access_status_str Open Access
author Feldmann, Daneil
author2 Kohn, Tertius
author_browse Feldmann, Daneil
Kohn, Tertius
author_facet Kohn, Tertius
Feldmann, Daneil
author_sort Feldmann, Daneil
collection Thesis
description Obesity and physical inactivity are established key risk factors in the development of skeletal muscle insulin-resistance and type II diabetes in human and domestic animal populations. Wild animals are similarly exposed to these risk factors as a result of captivity. This study aimed at describing the skeletal muscle properties of captive lions (Panthera leo) who present with obesity and are physically inactive, with a group of free roaming wild lions. Skeletal muscle biopsies were collected from the Triceps brachii and analysed for fibre type composition, fibre size, and maximum oxidative (citrate synthase (CS), 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase (3HAD) and glycolytic (phosphofructokinase (PFK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme capacities. The type IIA fibres were the predominant fibre type in both the wild (48%) and captive (44%) lions. No significant differences were evident in the overall fibre type composition between groups, although a trend towards less type I (28% vs 36%) and more type IIX (28% vs 16%) fibres in the captive group were observed. The captive lions displayed significantly larger cross-sectional areas (CSA) of the type I (5847μm² vs 3318 μm²) and IIA fibres (8344μm² vs 4360μm²) with no difference evident in the CSA of the IIX fibres. Relationships were observed between body mass and the CSAs of type I (r = 0.68, P = 0.0002) and IIA (r = 0.44; P = 0.03) fibres. Metabolically, the captive lions displayed higher flux through the glycolytic pathway as represented by their higher PFK activities (551 ± 287 vs. 338 ± 123 μmol/min/g protein, P < 0.05). In contrast, their CS activities (11 ± 3 vs. 14 ± 2 μmol/min/g protein) were lower than free roaming lions, suggesting lower oxidative capacity. No differences in LDH and 3HAD activities were observed between the two groups. Relationships were observed between 3HAD activity and MHC IIx fibre content (r = -0.43, P = 0.001), 3HAD activity and MHC I content (r = 0.55, P = 0.001). A positive correlation was observed between CS activity and MHC I content (r = 0.35, P = 0.009). In light of previous research, the data collected from this project follows that observed in exercise training models, where a sedentary lifestyle decreases oxidative capacity of muscle and increases type II fibre content. However, due to the low sample size in the free roaming wild lion group, interpretation of the data is difficult. Therefore, future research must strive to increase the sample number of the free roaming group.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24478
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:48.735Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher MRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicine
publisherStr MRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicine
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24478 Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome? Feldmann, Daneil Kohn, Tertius Tordiffe, Adrian S W Exercise Science Obesity and physical inactivity are established key risk factors in the development of skeletal muscle insulin-resistance and type II diabetes in human and domestic animal populations. Wild animals are similarly exposed to these risk factors as a result of captivity. This study aimed at describing the skeletal muscle properties of captive lions (Panthera leo) who present with obesity and are physically inactive, with a group of free roaming wild lions. Skeletal muscle biopsies were collected from the Triceps brachii and analysed for fibre type composition, fibre size, and maximum oxidative (citrate synthase (CS), 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase (3HAD) and glycolytic (phosphofructokinase (PFK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme capacities. The type IIA fibres were the predominant fibre type in both the wild (48%) and captive (44%) lions. No significant differences were evident in the overall fibre type composition between groups, although a trend towards less type I (28% vs 36%) and more type IIX (28% vs 16%) fibres in the captive group were observed. The captive lions displayed significantly larger cross-sectional areas (CSA) of the type I (5847μm² vs 3318 μm²) and IIA fibres (8344μm² vs 4360μm²) with no difference evident in the CSA of the IIX fibres. Relationships were observed between body mass and the CSAs of type I (r = 0.68, P = 0.0002) and IIA (r = 0.44; P = 0.03) fibres. Metabolically, the captive lions displayed higher flux through the glycolytic pathway as represented by their higher PFK activities (551 ± 287 vs. 338 ± 123 μmol/min/g protein, P < 0.05). In contrast, their CS activities (11 ± 3 vs. 14 ± 2 μmol/min/g protein) were lower than free roaming lions, suggesting lower oxidative capacity. No differences in LDH and 3HAD activities were observed between the two groups. Relationships were observed between 3HAD activity and MHC IIx fibre content (r = -0.43, P = 0.001), 3HAD activity and MHC I content (r = 0.55, P = 0.001). A positive correlation was observed between CS activity and MHC I content (r = 0.35, P = 0.009). In light of previous research, the data collected from this project follows that observed in exercise training models, where a sedentary lifestyle decreases oxidative capacity of muscle and increases type II fibre content. However, due to the low sample size in the free roaming wild lion group, interpretation of the data is difficult. Therefore, future research must strive to increase the sample number of the free roaming group. 2017-06-06T09:32:46Z 2017-06-06T09:32:46Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MSc (Med) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24478 eng application/pdf MRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Exercise Science
Feldmann, Daneil
Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
title_full Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
title_fullStr Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
title_full_unstemmed Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
title_short Inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids - are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome?
title_sort inactivity and overfeeding related changes in skeletal muscle composition and metabolism in captive felids are they at risk of developing metabolic syndrome
topic Exercise Science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24478
work_keys_str_mv AT feldmanndaneil inactivityandoverfeedingrelatedchangesinskeletalmusclecompositionandmetabolismincaptivefelidsaretheyatriskofdevelopingmetabolicsyndrome