Date of Submission

Spring 2024

Academic Program

Biology

Project Advisor 1

Mike Tibbetts

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Zebrafish are commonly used model organisms across many scientific disciplines, such as biomedical and genetic studies. Their use in these studies provides us with relevant information that can be used to save lives. Their usage in physiological studies is still in the early stages, as their viability as a model for these studies is still in question in some cases. They have been shown to produce responses to exercise similar to those of humans in terms of skeletal muscle mass and decline of athletic performance with age. How they react to different kinds of exercise, such as moderate-intensity continuous training, is unknown. This study evaluated the metabolic adaptations to moderate-intensity exercise training in zebrafish by measuring dissolved oxygen consumption. During a four-week training period, the experimental group performed MICT in a customized swim tunnel for 20 minutes, four days per week, while the control group remained in their tank. The rate of dissolved oxygen consumption relative to body weight was measured before and after the training period as a proxy for resting metabolic rate. Results demonstrated no significant change in RMR from the increased exercise. These results are consistent with previous human findings, validating zebrafish as a model organism for metabolic studies. This study provides an avenue for further research into the role of various genes in metabolism, their applications in human metabolic disorders, and disease treatment and prevention.

Open Access Agreement

On-Campus only

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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