Authors:
Abstract: Exercise is increasingly recognized as a potent modulator of immunity, with effects ranging from enhanced antitumor responses to attenuation of inflammation in autoimmune conditions. 1-4 A prior study by Rael et al 5 demonstrated that voluntary wheel running (WR) in mice significantly prolonged minor mismatched skin graft survival, despite mildly enhanced alloimmune responses, suggesting that enhanced graft resistance, rather than attenuation of alloimmune responses, was the primary mechanism.
Summary:
Building on this, we investigated whether other exercise-related variables might influence transplant outcomes. Using the same C57BL/6J (B6) minor mismatch skin transplant model (male-to-female), we tested 2 conditions: (1) housing donors and recipients in larger cages (rat cages) with greater space for free movement (without wheels), and (2) structured pretransplant exercise training with voluntary WR in both donor and recipient mice. We also tested the generalizability in a haplotypemismatched model (C57BL/6J × BALB/c F1 onto B6).
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