Effects of Progressive Aerobic Training on Serum and Gastric Acylated Ghrelin, IGF-1 and Body Weight in Female Rats

 It is generally believed that physical activity can lead to increased food intake, whereas some studies state that exercise can have inhibitory effects on appetite and calorie intake.

 The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in the level of gastric and serum ghrelin, body weight, and serum IGF-1 after a period of progressive aerobic training (PAT) in female rats.

 After one week of familiarization with treadmill running, 16 adult female rats were randomly assigned to two groups: control (n = 8) and aerobic exercise (n = 8). The exercise protocol consisted of progressive aerobic running on the treadmill for three months (5 days a week). Forty-eight hours after the last exercise session, the animals were sacrificed. Serum levels of ghrelin, IGF-1, and ghrelin content in the gastric tissue were measured using the ELISA method. An Independent t-test was used for comparison of data between the two groups.

 The results indicated that three months of PAT had no significant effect on gastric (P = 0.51) and serum acylated ghrelin (P = 0.15), weight changes (P = 0.42), and serum IGF-1 (P = 0.56) compared to the control group.

 Three months of PAT in female animals had no effects on ghrelin level, food intake and weight loss, and serum IGF-1 level. It seems that there are sex-specific hormonal and appetite responses to progressive aerobic training.