Daily voluntary exercise enhances pilocarpine‐induced saliva secretion and aquaporin 1 expression in rat submandibular glands

Saliva—a water‐based fluid containing electrolytes, immunoglobulins, and enzymes—has many functions, including the protection and hydration of mucosal structures within the oral cavity and the initiation of digestion. Aquaporins (AQPs) are proteins that act as water channels through membranes. We have previously reported upregulation of the expression levels of AQP 1 and 5 in the submandibular glands (SMGs) in heat‐acclimated rats. In this study, we investigated pilocarpine‐induced saliva secretion and AQP expression in rats after voluntary exercise. Male, 10‐week‐old Wistar rats were initially maintained at an ambient temperature of 24 °C for 10 days and were then kept for 40 days in cages either with a running wheel (exercise rats, n = 6) or with a locked wheel [control rats (CN), n = 6]. After the training period, the rats were anesthetized and pilocarpine, an M3 muscarinic receptor agonist, was intraperitoneally injected (0.5 mg·kg(−1)) to stimulate saliva secretion. Saliva was collected, and the SMGs were sampled and subjected to western blot, RT‐PCR, and immunohistochemical analyses. Pilocarpine induced a greater amount of saliva in the exercised rats than in the CN. Expression levels of AQP1 mRNA and protein were significantly higher in SMGs of exercised rats than in those of the CN, but the expression of AQP5 was not affected by voluntary exercise. Voluntary exercise increased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31), a marker for endothelial cells, in the SMGs. Voluntary exercise promoted pilocarpine‐induced saliva secretion, probably via an increase in the expression level of AQP1 due to VEGF‐induced CD31‐positive angiogenesis in the SMG.