The influence of food restriction on bone in young female rats with voluntary wheel running over 5 weeks

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to report on the influence of food restriction on the bones of young female rats undergoing voluntary wheel running over 5 weeks. Seven-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups after a 1-week acclimatization period: a sedentary and ad libitum feeding group (SED), voluntary running exercise and ad libitum feeding group (EX), and voluntary running exercise and 30% food restriction group (EX-FR). The experiment lasted for 38 days. Results showed that the dry weight of the femur, length of the femur, bone mineral content (BMC) of the tibia, bone area of the tibia, bone mineral density (BMD) of the tibia, BMC of the lumbar, and bone area of the lumbar were significantly lower in the EX-FR group than in the SED and EX groups. BMD of the lumbar was not significantly different in each group. In conclusion, this study shows the possibility of constructing a rat model of a female athlete with low BMD in a short period of time.