Long-term exercise treatment reduces oxidative stress in the hippocampus of aging rats.

Exercise can exert beneficial effects on cognitive functions of older subjects and it can also play an important role in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. At the same time it is perceivable that limited information is available on the nature of molecular pathways supporting the antioxidant effects of exercise in the brain. In this study 12-month old, middle-aged female Wistar rats were subjected to daily moderate intensity exercise on a rodent treadmill for a period of 15weeks which covered the early aging period unmasking already some aging-related molecular disturbances. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the amount of protein carbonyls, the levels of antioxidant intracellular enzymes superoxide dismutases (SOD-1, SOD-2) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were determined in the hippocampus. In addition, to identify the molecular pathways that may be involved in ROS metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis, the activation of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the protein level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) were measured. Our results revealed a lower level of ROS associated with a reduced amount of protein carbonyls in the hippocampus of physically trained rats compared to sedentary controls. Furthermore, exercise induced an up-regulation of SOD-1 and GPx enzymes, p-AMPK and PGC-1α, that can be related to an improved redox balance in the hippocampus. These results suggest that long-term physical exercise can comprises antioxidant properties and by this way protect neurons against oxidative stress at the early stage of aging

Effects of vitamin E supplementation on renal non-enzymatic antioxidants in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exercise stress was shown to increase oxidative stress in rats. It lacks reports of increased protection afforded by dietary antioxidant supplements against ROS production during exercise stress. We evaluated the effects of vitamin E supplementation on renal non-enzymatic antioxidants in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Wistar rats were divided into three groups: 1) control group; 2) exercise stress group and; 3) exercise stress + Vitamin E group. Rats from the group 3 were treated with gavage administration of 1 mL of Vitamin E (5 mg/kg) for seven consecutive days. Animals from groups 2 and 3 were submitted to a bout of swimming exhaustive exercise stress. Kidney samples were analyzed for Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances to (TBARS) by malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) and vitamin-E levels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The group treated with vitamin E and submitted to exercise stress presented the lowest levels of renal MDA (1: 0.16+0.02 mmmol/mgprot vs. 2: 0.34+0.07 mmmol/mgprot vs. 3: 0.1+0.01 mmmol/mgprot; p < 0.0001), the highest levels of renal GSH (1: 23+4 μmol/gprot vs. 2: 23+2 μmol/gprot vs. 3: 58+9 μmol/gprot; p < 0.0001) and the highest levels of renal vitamin E (1: 24+6 μM/gtissue vs. 2: 28+2 μM/gtissue vs. 3: 43+4 μM/gtissue; p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Vitamin E supplementation improved non-enzymatic antioxidant activity in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress.</p

Age-associated neurodegeneration and oxidative damage to lipids, proteins and DNA

Lipids, proteins and DNA in the central nervous system have a high sensitivity to oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced damage increases with aging, especially in the last quarter of the life span. The so called base level of oxidative modification of lipids could be important to cell signaling, and membrane remodeling, but the ROS-mediated post translation modifications of proteins could be important to the homeostasis of protein turnover. Low levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) might be necessary for transcription. A high level of accumulation of lipid peroxidation, oxidative protein damage or 8-oxoG, on the other hand, accelerates the progress of aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, agents that induce the activity of repair enzymes, such as Ca(2(+))-independent phospholipase A(2) (iPLA(2)beta), methionine sulfoxide reductase, and 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase, or the activity of enzymes that could prevent the accumulation of oxidized, toxic proteins, such as proteasome, Lon protease, neprilysin or insulin degrading enzyme, may act as potential therapeutic tools to slow the aging process and the progress of neurodegenerative diseases

Correlations of psycho-physiological parameters influencing the physical fitness of aged women

Regular assessment of psycho-physiological parameters in aged subjects helps to clarify physical and mental conditions which are important in the prevention of health-endangering events to assure a healthy aging. Thirty older care female residents consented voluntarily to participate in the study. The somatic and psycho-physiological parameters recorded were handgrip force, disjunctive reaction time, balance control and whole body movement coordination, the electrocardiogram and heart rate variability. Significant correlations were found between (a) reaction time and balance control efficiency (r = −0.567, p < 0.009), (b) reaction time and movement coordination accuracy (r = −0.453, p < 0.045), (c) cardiac state and movement coordination accuracy (r = 0.545, p < 0.016), (d) cardiac stress and cardiac state (r = −0.495, p < 0.031), and (e) cardiac stress and force (r = −0.822, p < 0.045). In conclusion, for the aim of establishing basic battery tests for assessing psycho-physiological condition of physical fitness our results emphasize the importance of systematic physical activity, endurance and strength training supporting muscle force, balance control and whole-body movement coordination, in addition to improving the cardiac stress index level. The strong interrelation among these parameters allows the drawing of a more complete view regarding the health condition of aged individuals

Time-course changes of oxidative stress response to high-intensity discontinuous training versus moderate-intensity continuous training in masters runners.

Beneficial systemic effects of regular physical exercise have been demonstrated to reduce risks of a number of age-related disorders. Antioxidant capacity adaptations are amongst these fundamental changes in response to exercise training. However, it has been claimed that acute physical exercise performed at high intensity (.60% of maximal oxygen uptake) may result in oxidative stress, due to reactive oxygen species being generated excessively by enhanced oxygen consumption. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of high- ntensity discontinuous training (HIDT), characterized by repeated variations of intensity and changes of redox potential, on oxidative damage. Twenty long-distance masters runners (age 47.867.8 yr) on the basis of the individual values of gas exchange threshold were assigned to a different 8- weeks training program: continuous moderate-intensity training (MOD, n = 10) or HIDT (n = 10). In both groups before (PRE) and after (POST) training we examined the following oxidative damage markers: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as marker of lipid peroxidation; protein carbonyls (PC) as marker of protein oxidation; 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-guanosine (8-OH-dG) as a biomarker of DNA base modifications; and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) as indicator of the overall antioxidant system. Training induced a significant (p,0.05) decrease in resting plasma TBARS concentration in both MOD (7.53 +/- 0.30 and 6.46 +/-0.27 mM, PRE and POST respectively) and HIDT (7.21 +/- 0.32 and 5.85 +/- 0.46 mM, PRE and POST respectively). Resting urinary 8-OH-dG levels were significantly decreased in both MOD (5.50 +/- 0.66 and 4.16 +/- 0.40 ng mg21creatinine, PRE and POST respectively) and HIDT (4.52 +/- 0.50 and 3.18 +/- 0.34 ng mg21creatinine, PRE and POST respectively). Training both in MOD and HIDT did not significantly modify plasma levels of PC. Resting plasma TAC was reduced in MOD while no significant changes were observed in HIDT. In conclusion, these results suggest that in masters runners high-intensity discontinuous does not cause higher level of exercise-induced oxidative stress than continuous moderate-intensity training, inducing similar beneficial effects on redox homeostasi