Combination of exercise training and l-arginine reverses aging process through suppression of oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in the rat heart

摘要

Aging-induced progressive decline of molecular and metabolic factors in the myocardium is suggested to be related with heart dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of exercise training and l-arginine supplementation on oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in ventricle of the aging rat heart. Twenty-four 24-month-aged Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: the aged control, aged exercise, aged l-arginine (orally administered with 150?mg/kg for 12?weeks), and aged exercise + l-arginine groups. Six 4-month-old rats were also considered the young control. Animals with training program performed exercise on a treadmill 5?days/week for 12?weeks. After 12?weeks, protein levels of Bax, Bcl-2, pro-caspase-3/cleaved caspase-3, cytochrome C, and heat shock protein (HSP)-70 were assessed. Tissue contents of total anti-oxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 were analyzed. Histological and fibrotic changes were also evaluated. Treadmill exercise and l-arginine supplementation significantly alleviated aging-induced apoptosis with enhancing HSP-70 expression, increasing anti-oxidant enzyme activity, and suppressing inflammatory markers in the cardiac myocytes. Potent attenuation in apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress was indicated in the rats with the combination of l-arginine supplementation and exercise program in comparison with each group (p?