To specify the exercise-induced changes on different skeletal sites, the effect of a 5-week endurance swim training was studied in rats. Eighteen Lyon strain (Sprague-Dawley) 5-week old female rats were divided into nine sedentary and nine swimming rats. Each swim training session was increased by 15 minutes from 2-6 hours per day. A histomorphometric study was performed at the primary and secondary spongiosa of the distal femur and at the secondary spongiosa of lumbar and thoracic vertebral bodies. After training, bone loss was observed in the secondary spongiosa of lumbar vertebral bodies (24.7%) and in the primary spongiosa of distal femur (15.2%). A tendency to bone loss was also detected in the secondary spongiosa of distal femur (10.8%), whereas no change was detected in thoracic vertebral bodies. In secondary spongiosa, bone loss was accompanied with a thinning of trabeculae. Total eroded surfaces and osteoid surfaces were significantly decreased in the three studied skeletal sites, suggesting a decreased bone turnover. The decreased thickness of osteoid seams in both lumbar vertebrae and distal femur could mean that the osteoblastic activity has also been altered at the cell level, leading to thinning of trabeculae. Five-week swim training with such duration and intensity of exercise appears unable to increase bone volume in rats and, therefore, causes adverse effects. The three studied bones seemed to adapt differently to experimental conditions. The lack of ground reaction forces induced by water immersion might have contributed to the observed bone loss. "Normal" gravity would be an important cofactor in the osteogenic effects of exercise.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of swimming training on systolic blood pressure (BPs), plasma and brain vasopressin (AVP), and plasma renin activity (PRA) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) during rest and after exercise. Resting and postexercise heart rate, as well as blood parameters such as packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), plasma sodium and potassium concentrations ([Na+], [K+]) osmolality and proteins were also studied. Hypophyseal AVP had reduced significantly after exercise in the SHR, whereas PRA had increased significantly in the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) strain used as normotensive controls. Plasma AVP concentration increased in both strains. By the end of the experiment, training had reduced body mass and BPs by only 10% and 6%, respectively. Maximal oxygen uptake was increased 10% and plasma osmolality 2% by training. The postexercise elevation of heart rate was not significantly attenuated by training. A statistically significant reduction in postexercise plasma osmolality (10%) and [Na+] (4%) was observed. These results suggested that swimming training reduced BPs. Plasma and brain AVP played a small role in the hypertensive process of SHR in basal conditions because changes in AVP contents did not correlate with those of BPs. Moreover, there were no differences between SHR and WKY in plasma, hypophyseal and hypothalamic AVP content in these basal conditions. Finally, during moderate exercise a haemodilution probably occurred with an increase of plasma protein content. This was confirmed by the exercise-induced increase of plasma AVP and the reduction of hypophyseal AVP content, suggesting a release of this hormone, which probably contributed to the water retention and haemodilution.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)