Bratislava Medical Journal Vol.115, No.7, p.416-421, 2014

Background: To investigate the effects of exercise preconditioning on oxidative injury in the intestinal tissue of rats.

Methods: Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups as sham (n = 10), ischemia-reperfusion (n = 10), exercise (n = 10), exercise plus ischemia-reperfusion (n = 10), ischemic preconditioning (n = 10), and ischemic preconditioning plus ischemia-reperfusion groups (n = 10).

Tissue levels of malondialdehyde and activities of myeloperoxidase and superoxide dismutase, and serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 were measured. Intestinal tissue histopathology was also evaluated by light microscopy.

Results: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha concentrations significantly decreased in the exercise group compared to the sham group (p < 0.05).

Myeloperoxidase activity significantly increased and superoxide dismutase activity significantly decreased in ischemia-reperfusion group compared to the sham group (p < 0.05).

Superoxide dismutase activity in the ischemic preconditioning and ischemic preconditioning plus ischemia-reperfusion groups were significantly higher compared to the ischemia-reperfusion and exercise groups (p < 0.05).

Histopathologically, intestinal injury significantly attenuated in the exercise plus ischemia-reperfusion group compared to the ischemia-reperfusion group.
Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that exercise training seems to have a protective role against intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury (Tab. 3, Fig. 1, Ref. 35).