| Summary: | Arctic Ground Squirrels (AGS) are widely studied in laboratories for their capability to hibernate for months without any bodily repercussions while dormant. Hibernation is the ability to decrease metabolism, core body temperature and activity to conserve energy. Despite being heavily studied, information on the impact of the laboratory diet, a basic component of their husbandry protocol, lacks in scientific research. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are renowned for their effect on hibernation. The increase of omega 6 PUFAs has been shown to improve captive hibernation (Geiser 1993, Frank 2008). In contrast, when omega 3s were given in abundance compared to omega 6s hibernation was inhibited (Florant 1999). No literature, to our knowledge, has tested feeding natural omega 3:6 ratios to captive AGS. Our preliminary data spotlights a significant difference in the ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 PUFA levels between wild and captive AGS. The captive diet does not represent the natural ratio of omega 3 to omega 6. We hypothesize that substituting captive AGS with a Test Diet comparable to the natural diet will mirror wild AGS fatty acid profiles. To test this hypothesis we fed a pilot study Test Diet comprised of a 1:1 ratio of omega 3 to omega 6s. The Test Diet significantly reduced some divergent fatty acid profiles between wild and captive AGS. Further work, however, needs to continue to adjust specific fatty acids in the Test Diet and measure the impact of the diet on hibernation. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .
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