Effect of 10 weeks of swimming training on antioxidant enzymes and infarction size-induced myocardial ischemia-reperfusion in male Wistar rats

Exercise training cited as the most important non-pharmacological strategy to cardio-protective effects of preconditioning, but the molecular mechanism of this process is not yet clear. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the cardio-protective effects of swimming training Preconditioning on Ischemia Reperfusion-Injury in male Wistar rats.

For this purpose, 20 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control and training groups. The training group performed swimming training for 10 weeks (5 days per week, each session 60 min). All subjects underwent myocardial ischemia (30 min) reperfusion (120 min) surgery after intervention. Then, infarction size and oxidative stress indices were measured.

Statistical analyses showed that antioxidant indices GSH, GPx and Catalase induced-myocardial ischemia reperfusion were not different between groups, but MDA and MPO were significantly lower in the training group than in the control group. Also, infarction size area following ischemia reperfusion in the training group (34.32±6.4) was 8% less than the control group (42.17±9.7). 

The results of this study showed that ten weeks of swimming training reduced the size of the infarcted area after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by reducing free radical production. These changes suggest protective preconditioning effects of swimming exercises.