Physical exercise affects the lipid profile of mitochondrial membranes in rats fed with virgin olive oil or sunflower oil

Abstract

The effects of physical exercise on the lipid profile in mitochondrial membranes of liver and skeletal muscle were examined in rats fed with virgin olive oil or sunflower oil. Thirty male Wistar rats, 21 d old, were randomly assigned to four groups according to fat ingestion and physical activity over an 8-week period. For each type of oil, one group acted as a control group while rats from the other were trained to run for 40 min daily on a horizontal treadmill, at a speed of 35 m/min. The results show that diet affected the fatty acid profile of the mitochondrial membranes from skeletal muscle and liver. Physical exercise also modified the fatty acid profile of the mitochondrial membranes. Total monounsaturated fatty acids decreased (P < 0 : 001) in liver mitochondria of exercised animals. Total polyunsaturated fatty acids in mitochondrial membranes of liver increased (P < 0 : 005) after exercise but those in mitochondrial membranes of skeletal muscle decreased (P < 0 : 05). These changes due to the exercise may arise via several mechanisms, e.g. fluidity regulation; changes in the eicosanoid metabolism; differences in the availability or oxidation rate of the different fatty acids. Liver: Skeletal muscle: Dietary fat: Exercise

Effect of exercise training on the fatty acid composition of lipid classes in rat liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue

“…Concerning the liver, a number of studies have examined the effect of exercise training on the fatty acid profile of total lipids in either the whole tissue (Fiebig et al 1998(Fiebig et al , 2002Wirth et al 1980) or subcellular fractions such as mitochondria (Mataix et al 1998;Quiles et al 1999) and microsomes (Venkatraman et al 1998a, b). Only Sˇimko et al (1970) have reported data on individual lipid classes, in particular triacylglycerols (TG) and cholesteryl esters of the whole tissue.…”

“…Additionally, a number of researchers have analyzed total lipids in subcellular fractions of muscle tissue, i.e., mitochondria (Mataix et al 1998;Quiles et al 1999Quiles et al , 2001 and membranes (Thomas et al 1977) before and after exercise training. However, there appears to be no consensus as to the effect of exercise.…”

Virgin olive oil: a key healthy component of the Mediterranean diet

“…The type of dietary fat influences several biochemical parameters at the mitochondrial membrane level [7,8]. The importance of fatty acids resides in the fact that the mitochondrial membrane (as do other biological membranes) adapts its lipid composition to some extent in response to dietary fat [9][10][11].…”

“…Oxidative stress is involved in the action of doxorubicin, in terms of both antitumour effects and cardiotoxicity [20]. Thus, it has been reported that doxorubicin leads to direct oxidative injury to DNA [21] and generates lipid peroxidation [8,9,13,15,22,23]. In relation to the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin, the heart is very sensitive to free radical damage because it has a high rate of oxidative metabolism and a lower level of antioxidant defences than other organs, such as the liver.…”

“…However, involvement in sport is also a possible mechanism by which free radicals are generated, and it has been widely recognized as capable of producing peroxidative damage, mainly at the mitochondrial level, as a consequence of the net increase in oxygen consumption during sporting exercise. We have been working for several years on the effects of dietary lipid sources with different degrees of unsaturation on oxidative stress and mitochondrial function during exercise [7,8,15,29,30] using the following approach. Two groups of rats were fed diets differing in the dietary fat source: virgin olive or sunflower oils.…”