Excessive training is associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress but not apoptosis in the hypothalamus of mice

Downhill running-based overtraining model increases the hypothalamic levels of IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, SOCS3, and pSAPK-JNK. The aim of the present study was to verify the effects of 3 overtraining protocols on the levels of BiP, pIRE-1 (Ser724), pPERK (Thr981), pelF2 alpha (Ser52), ATF-6, GRP-94, caspase 4, caspase 12, pAKT (Ser473), pmTOR (Ser2448), and pAMPK (Thr172) proteins in the mouse hypothalamus. The mice were randomized into the control, overtrained by downhill running (OTR/down), overtrained by uphill running (OTR/up), and overtrained by running without inclination (OTR) groups. After the overtraining protocols (i.e., at the end of week 8), hypothalamus was removed and used for immunoblotting. The OTR/down group exhibited increased levels of all of the analyzed endoplasmic reticulum stress markers in the hypothalamus at the end of week 8. The OTR/up and OTR groups exhibited increased levels of BiP, pIRE-1 (Ser724), and pPERK (Thr981) in the hypothalamus at the end of week 8. There were no significant differences in the levels of caspase 4, caspase 12, pAKT (Ser473), pmTOR (Ser2448), and pAMPK (Thr172) between the experimental groups at the end of week 8. In conclusion, the 3 overtraining protocols increased the endoplasmic reticulum stress at the end of week 8. (AU)