The effect of a period of aerobic exercises and supplementation with piperine on liver enzymes in rats induced with paraquat

Chronic exposure to paraquat can lead to lung and liver damage, kidney failure, and Parkinsonian lesions in addition to fibrosis. Paraquat toxicity occurs through excessive production of free radicals which results in oxidative stress and damage. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of a period of aerobic exercises and supplementation with piperine on liver enzymes in rats induced with paraquat. 48 adult rats were divided into six groups: 1) Sham, 2) negative control paraquat 3) paraquat + training, 4) paraquat + training + piperine, 5) paraquat + piperine and 6) positive control paraquat + vitamin E. Aerobic exercise training included: seven weeks of walking on treadmill for 5 sessionsper-week 30-40 min per session at a speed of 10 to 18 m/min. The paraquat poison was prepared at dose of 5 mg/kg of rat body weight and was injected intraperitoneally. Daily gavage of piperine supplement was provided at dose of 10 mg/kg of rat body weight. ANOVA statistical test was used to determine the mean difference between groups. There were significant differences in Alanine Transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate Transaminase (AST) levels between the sham, paraquat+exercise, paraquat+piperine, paraquat+exercise+piperine, and positive control paraquat+vitamin E groups compared to the negative control paraquat-group. Furthermore, significant increase in ALT and AST levels was observed in the negative control group compared to the sham, paraquat+exercise, paraquat+piperine and paraquat+exercise+piperine and positive control paraquat+vitamin E groups (p<0.001). The results showed that in rats belonging to exercise training, only exercise training with piperine and piperine decreased the ALT and AST levels compared to the negative control group. However, more research is needed to support these findings.