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First published online January 25, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 571-584 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01429

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Effect of photoperiod on body mass, food intake and body composition in the field vole, Microtus agrestis

E. Król^1,*, P. Redman¹, P. J. Thomson¹, R. Williams¹, C. Mayer², J. G. Mercer³ and J. R. Speakman^1,3

¹ Aberdeen Centre for Energy Regulation and Obesity (ACERO), School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
² BioSS Office, Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, UK
³ ACERO, Division of Energy Balance and Obesity, Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, UK

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: e.krol{at}abdn.ac.uk)

Accepted 6 December 2004

Many small mammals respond to seasonal changes in photoperiod by altering body mass and adiposity. These animals may provide valuable models for understanding the regulation of energy balance. Here, we present data on the field vole (Microtus agrestis) – a previously uncharacterised example of photoperiod-induced changes in body mass. We examined the effect of increased day length on body mass, food intake, apparent digestive efficiency, body composition, de novo lipogenesis and fatty acid composition of adipose tissue in cold-acclimated (8°C) male field voles by transferring them from a short (SD, 8 h:16 h L:D) to long day photoperiod (LD, 16 h:8 h L:D). During the first 4 weeks of exposure to LD, voles underwent a substantial increase in body mass, after which the average difference between body masses of LD and SD voles stabilized at 7.5 g. This 24.8% increase in body mass reflected significant increases in absolute amounts of all body components, including dry fat mass, dry lean mass and body water mass. After correcting body composition and organ morphology data for the differences in body mass, only gonads (testes and seminal vesicles) were enlarged due to photoperiod treatment. To meet energetic demands of deposition and maintenance of extra tissue, voles adjusted their food intake to an increasing body mass and improved their apparent digestive efficiency. Consequently, although mass-corrected food intake did not differ between the photoperiod groups, the LD voles undergoing body mass increase assimilated on average 8.4 kJ day^-1 more than animals maintained in SD. The majority (73–77%) of the fat accumulated as adipose tissue had dietary origin. The rate of de novo lipogenesis and fatty acid composition of adipose tissue were not affected by photoperiod. The most important characteristics of the photoperiodic regulation of energy balance in the field vole are the clear delineation between phases where animals regulate body mass at two different levels and the rate at which animals are able to switch between different levels of energy homeostasis. Our data indicate that the field vole may provide an attractive novel animal model for investigation of the regulation of body mass and energy homeostasis at both organism and molecular levels.

Key words: photoperiod, energy balance, digestive efficiency, organ morphology, de novo lipogenesis, fatty acid composition, Siberian hamster, Syrian hamster, collared lemming, field vole, Microtus agrestis

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