Torpor is thought to slow age-related processes and to sustain growth and fattening of young individuals. Energy allocation into these processes represents a challenge for juveniles, especially for those born late in the season. We tested the hypothesis that late-born juvenile garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus) fed ad libitum ('AL', n = 9) or intermittently fasted ('IF', n = 9) use short torpor...

The mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus) is an endangered marsupial restricted to boulder fields in the Australian Alps, where it hibernates under the snow during winter. Understanding its habitat requirements is essential for conservation, so we examine here ecological implications of the thermal consequences of maintaining water balance during the hibernation season. Hibernating mountain p...

The cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) mediates a wide range of inflammatory and immune responses. Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNF-α) has a myriad of pro-inflammatory effects on the skin. Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is a transcriptional factor that regulates a battery of genes that are critical to immune system. In this study, we investigated the localizations and expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α and NF-...

A significant proportion of standard metabolic rate is devoted to driving mitochondrial proton leak, and this futile cycle may be a site of metabolic control during hibernation. To determine if the proton leak pathway is decreased during metabolic depression related to hibernation, mitochondria were isolated from liver and skeletal muscle of nonhibernating (active) and hibernating arctic ground...

An estimated 5.7 million or more bats died in North America between 2006 and 2012 due to infection with the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) during hibernation. The behavioral and physiological changes associated with hibernation leave bats vulnerable to WNS, but the persistence of bats within the contaminated regions of North America suggests that ...

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) exploit the low-temperature activity of pancreatic triacylglycerol lipase (PTL) during hibernation. Lipolytic activity at body temperatures associated with hibernation was examined using recombinant ground squirrel and human PTLs expressed in yeast. Both the human and ground squirrel enzymes displayed high activity at temperatures ...

The Edible Dormouse ( Glis glis) uses different types of shelters at particular times the year. During hibernation, they are found in underground cavities or sometimes caves, while during active periods mostly use above-ground shelters: tree hollows nest boxes. Selection such thermally varied is result physiological requirements both and non-active periods, choosing a lower constant temperature...

Apex predators can shape communities via cascading top–down effects, but the degree to which such effects depend on predator life history traits is largely unknown. Within carnivore guilds, complex hierarchies of dominance facilitate coexistence, whereby subordinate species avoid dominant counterparts by partitioning space, time, or both. We investigated whether a major trait (hibernation) in a...

Over the past 2 to 3 decades, several phenomena have been identified that provide powerful protection against myocardial infarction and other sequelae of ischemia/reperfusion1: myocardial hibernation that is related to stunning,2 ischemic preconditioning,3 delayed or second-window ischemic preconditioning,4 ischemic postconditioning,5 and their pharmacological recruitment. Stunning and hibernat...

Many temperate zone animals adapt to seasonal changes by altering their physiology. This is mediated in large part by endocrine signals that encode day length and regulate energy balance and metabolism. The objectives of this study were to determine if the daily patterns of two important hormones, melatonin and cortisol, varied with day length in captive brown bears (Ursus arctos) under anesthe...