The Effects of Swimming Training in Cold Water on Antioxidant Enzyme Activity and Lipid Peroxidation in Erythrocytes of Male and Female Aged Rats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify whether eight-week-long swimming exercise training would evaluate the level of selected indicators of the pro-oxidant/antioxidant status in response to cold water in comparison with swimming under thermoneutral conditions in sedentary male and female elderly rats. The exercise-trained groups swam four min/day and five days a week during eight weeks of housing. Exercise was performed by swimming in glass tanks containing tap water maintained according to group at 5 °C and 36 °C. At the end of treatment (48 h after the last session), all rats were anaesthetized. The level of chosen biomarkers of oxidative stress and antioxidant enzyme activity was determined in the red blood cells and plasma. The results of study show that female rats seem to be better adapted to changing thermal conditions of the environment, developing not only morphological, but also antioxidant, defense mechanisms, mainly in the form of increased erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (GSH) concentration to restore the pro-oxidant/oxidant balance of the organism. Significantly higher concentrations of GSH were observed in the female rats of the group swimming in cold water (by 15.4% compared to the control group and by 20.5% in relation to the group of female rats swimming at 36 °C). In the group exposed to swimming training exercise in cold water, a significantly higher activity of SOD1 (by 13.4%) was found compared to the control group. On the other hand, the organs of ageing male rats show a reduced capacity to increase the metabolic response to low temperatures compared to female ones. In addition, it was demonstrated that cold exposure leads to an increase in lipid peroxidation in tissues. On the other hand, the repeated exposure to low levels of oxidative stress may result in some adaptive changes in organisms that help them to resist stress-induced damage.

Concentrations of Ca, Mg, P, Prostaglandin E2 in Bones and Parathyroid Hormone; 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3; 17-β-estradiol; Testosterone and Somatotropin in Plasma of Aging Rats Subjected to Physical Training in Cold Water

“…During the first week of the study, the duration of the first swim was 2 min and increased by 0.5 min per day up to 4 min on the fifth day of the first week. The duration of the single sessions was based on the results of other researchers who showed that rats would swim actively for up to 4 min in 4–5 °C water, and then only drift [ 25 ]. Based on literature data, it is known that rats at a thermally comfortable temperature can be active for much longer [ 26 ], and hence the choice of a 4-min daily swimming session for both study groups.…”

“…Increased synthesis of ROS may result in oxidative stress and cellular damage, such as in lipid peroxidation. In a previously cited study by Lubkowska et al (2019) [28] conducted on the same rat model, a significant increase of lipid peroxidation markers (such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and 8-isoprostane) in erythrocytes was demonstrated in the rats swimming in either cold water or thermally comfortable water, as well as in the control group. The increase in ROS synthesis may result in increased prostanoids synthesis through activation of cyclooxygenases (COX).…”

The Effect of Swimming Training and Cinnamon Consumption on the Gene Expression of GLUT4 and Insulin Receptor in the Brown Adipose Tissue of Diabetic Rats

“…After 4 days, the blood glucose of rats was measured by tail punching method and based on fasting blood glucose and to homogenize, the diabetic rats were assigned in 1-control (C), 2-cinnamon (Ci), 3-swimming (S) and 4-swimming plus cinnamon (S + Ci) groups. Then, rats in the training groups were trained for six weeks, five sessions per week, five days a week, for two minutes in the first week, and in each training session, 30 seconds were added to the training until it reached 4 minutes (16). Also, rats in the cinnamon groups received the aqueous cinnamon extract orally at a dose of 200 mg per kg of animal body weight (17).…”

Strenuous swimming raises blood non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity in rats

“…This non-enzymatic antioxidant system protects blood components from oxidative damage and/or injury (4)(5)(6)(7). Several studies have suggested that this increased antioxidant capacity (8)(9)(10)(11) is needed to prevent oxidative stress (12).…”