Thermoneutral Housing and a Western Diet Combination Exacerbates Dysferlin-Deficient Muscular Dystrophy

Introduction/Aims: Most mouse models of muscular dystrophy (MD) show mild phenotypes, which limits the translatability of experimental therapies to patients. A growing body of evidence suggests that MD is accompanied by metabolic abnormalities that could potentially exacerbate the primary muscle wasting process. Since thermoneutral (TN) housing of mice (similar to 30 degrees C) has been shown to affect many metabolic parameters, particularly when combined with a Western diet (WD), our aim was to determine whether the combination of TN and WD exacerbates muscle wasting in dysferlin-deficient BLAJ mice, a common model of limb-girdle MD type 2b (LGMD2b). Methods: The 2-mo-old wild-type (WT) and BLAJ mice were housed at TN or room temperature (RT) and fed a WD or regular chow for 9 mo. Ambulatory function, muscle histology, and protein immunoblots of skeletal muscle were assessed. Results: BLAJ mice at RT and fed a chow diet showed normal ambulation function similar to WT mice, whereas 90% of BLAJ mice under WD and TN combination showed ambulatory dysfunction (p < 0.001), and an up to 4.1-fold increase in quadriceps and gastrocnemius fat infiltration. Western blotting revealed decreased autophagy marker microtubules-associated protein 1 light chain 3-B (LC3BII/LC3BI) ratio and up-regulation of protein kinase B/AKT and ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation, suggesting inefficient cellular debris and protein clearance in TN BLAJ mice fed a WD. Male and female BLAJ mice under TN and WD combination showed heterogenous fibro-fatty infiltrate composition. Discussion: TN and WD combination exacerbates rodent LGMD2b without affecting WT mice. This improves rodent modeling of human MD and helps elucidate how metabolic abnormalities may play a causal role in muscle wasting.