Serkan Revan

Comparison of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity before and after running exercises in both sexes

BACKGROUND It has been difficult to determine, from the published literature, whether men or women have higher levels of exercise-induced oxidative stress. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare variations between the sexes in lipid hydroperoxide (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) after 3 different running exercises performed at the same speed. METHODS Eligible participants were healthy university students of both sexes. The participants performed running exercise tests at distances of 800, 1500, and 3000 m at a speed of 10 km/h. Blood samples were taken from the participants just before and immediately after the running activities to determine LPO, SOD, CAT, GR, and LDH, and these measures were compared both before and after exercise and between the sexes. RESULTS A total of 17 young and healthy, but not physically trained, students (n = 8 men; mean age, 22.00 years; n = 9 women; mean age, 21.78 years) participated in this study. Height, weight, and maximum oxygen consumption values were significantly higher in men than in women (P = 0.01). Significant gender effects were found in LPO levels at 3000 m (F = 5.51; P = 0.03) and in SOD activity at 800 m (F = 7.92; P = 0.01) and 3000 m (F = 6.05; P = 0.03). CAT activity also differed between the sexes at 800 m (F = 15.67; P = 0.01) and 1500 m (F = 6.55; P = 0.02). However, no significant gender-time interaction effect was observed for any measurement at the 800-, 1500-, and 3000-m distances. CONCLUSIONS Changes in LPO, SOD, and CAT activities at different running distances were not different between men and women over time because of a nonsignificant gender-time interaction. With regard to changes in oxidative stress, men and women had similar responses to exercise at the same absolute workload, despite significant differences in physical characteristics.

Effects of Gender, Endurance Training and Acute Exhaustive Exercise on Oxidative Stress in the Heart and Skeletal Muscle of the Rat

Effects of gender differences and endurance training on exhaustive exercise induced-oxidative stress have been a question that has not been clarified in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of sex, acute exhaustive exercise and chronic aerobic exercise training on oxidative stress in the heart and the skeletal muscle. The study was carried out with 12 week-old male (n = 24) and female (n = 24) young adult Wistar rats. They were randomly divided into four groups: untrained, trained, untrained exhausted and trained exhausted. The rats in the trained group swam for 60 min/day, five days per week for eight weeks. Thereafter, one-half of the trained and one-half of the untrained rats were randomly selected into the trained and untrained exhaustive exercise groups, respectively. They were killed immediately after one last exhaustive swimming exercise. In the heart, endurance training decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the female rats at rest, but did not change in the male rats in the heart; MDA levels were also increased in female rats at rest in the gastrocnemius tissues. [corrected]. In the trained female rats, exhaustive exercise decreased MDA levels in the heart and gastrocnemius tissues. The nitric oxide (NO) levels in the heart in the untrained female rats were higher than in the male rats after exhaustive exercise. Training decreased the NO levels in both sexes in the gastrocnemius tissue at rest. In the heart, the untrained female rats had higher total glutathione (GSH) levels than in the male rats at rest. Also, exhaustive exercise decreased the GSH levels in the trained female rats. In the gastrocnemius, untrained female rats showed higher GSH levels than in the male after exhaustive exercise. The superoxide dismutase activities in the gastrocnemius were similar between the female and male rats. The results suggested that gender was a major determinant of changes in MDA, NO and GSH levels in the heart and gastrocnemius tissues after the exhaustive exercise or endurance training. Also, the responses to oxidative stress induced by acute exercise or training in the heart and gastrocnemius muscle tissues are different.

Effects of CoQ10 supplementation and swimming training on exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative stress in rat heart.

This study examined the combined effects of swimming training and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplementation on exhaustive exercise-induced oxidative stress in rat heart. The study was carried out with 4-month-old young adult male Wistar rats. Sixty four rats were divided mainly into two groups: trained and control. Each group was further divided into four subgroups: rest, exhausted, rest with CoQ10, exhausted with CoQ10. The training program consisted of swimming one hour each day, five days a week, for six weeks. At the end of sixth week, rats in exhausted exercise group were forced to swim until exhaustion and then they were immediately sacrificed, while rats in rest group were sacrificed at rest. Training alone or in combination with CoQ10 supplementation reduced to increasing MDA levels due to exhaustive exercise in rat heart (p<0.05). The trained-rest with CoQ10 group showed lower 8-OHdG levels than the control-rest with CoQ10 group. Exhaustive exercise effect was significant on SOD activity. Exhaustive exercise increased GSH levels in control groups while decreased GSH levels in training groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, the results suggest that CoQ10 supplementation combined with training may inhibit lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in the heart tissue. Also, it can be said that SOD activity and GSH levels were not influenced by CoQ10 supplementation (Fig. 4, Tab. 1, Ref. 69).

Repeated Supramaximal Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress: Effect of β-Alanine Plus Creatine Supplementation

Background: Carnosine is a dipeptide formed from the β-alanine and histidine amino acids and found in mainly in the brain and muscle, especially fast twitch muscle. Carnosine and creatine has an antioxidant effect and carnosine accounts for about 10% of the muscles ability to buffer the H+ ions produced by exercise. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of beta alanine and/or creatine supplementation on oxidant and antioxidant status during repeated Wingate tests (WTs). Patients and Methods: Forty four sedentary males participated in the study. Participants performed three 30s WTs with 2 minutes rest between exercise bouts. After the first exercise session, the subjects were assigned to one of four groups: Placebo, Creatine, Beta-alanine and Beta-alanine plus creatine. Participants ingested twice per day for 22 consecutive days, then four times per day for the following 6 days. After the supplementation period the second exercise session was applied. Blood samples were taken before and immediately after the each exercise session for the analysis of oxidative stress and antioxidant markers. Results: Malondialdehyde levels and superoxide dismutase activities were affected by neither supplementation nor exercise. During the pre-supplementation session, protein carbonyl reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG) levels increased immediately after the exercise. However, during the post-supplementation session GSH and GSSG levels increased in beta-alanine and beta-alanine plus creatine groups immediately after the exercise compared to pre-exercise. In addition, during the post-supplementation session total antioxidant capacity increased in beta-alanine group immediately after the exercise. Conclusions: Beta-alanine supplementation has limited antioxidant effect during the repeated WTs.

Effects of treatment with coenzyme Q10 on exercised rat aorta

In this study, the effect of long-term supplementation of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on the responses of swim-trained rat aorta was investigated. Twenty-four adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: untrained, trained, untrained+CoQ10, and trained+CoQ10 group. In the trained groups rats swam for 60 min/day, five days/week for six weeks. The CoQ10 supplements were administered by intraperitoneal injection at a daily dose of 10 mg·kg-1 of body weight five days/week for six weeks. Swimming of the rats was performed in a container containing tap water. Rats were sacrificed and thoracic aortas were removed for ex vivo analysis after the last swimming session. The aortas were cut into rings 2.5 mm in length. Concentration-response curves for phenylephrine (PHE, 10-9-3×10-4 M) and potassium chloride (KCl, 5-100 mM) were isometrically recorded. The sensitivity and maximal responses to PHE and KCl of aortic rings obtained from trained rats were lower than those of untrained rats. CoQ10 supplementation decreased the responses to both vasoconstrictors in untrained and especially in trained groups. Although neither CoQ10 nor training did affect malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PC) levels, creatine kinase (CK) activity decreased and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased only with exercise training. Glutathione (GSH) levels increased in CoQ10 supplemented-untrained rats. In conclusion, our results suggest that CoQ10 supplementation may have beneficial effects during exercise.

Effect of Training and Gender on Plasma Irisin, Leptin, and Insulin Levels

The objective of this study is the comparison of the irisin, leptin, and insulin hormone levels of the female and male elite taekwondo athletes and non-athletes. Elite taekwondo athletes (7 males, 6 females) and university students (8 males, 6 females) between the ages of 16 and 20 who do not do exercise regularly and who are moderately active have taken part in the study. In the beginning of the study, the body compositions of the participants were determined and their plasma irisin, leptin, and insulin hormone analyses were determined by means of the Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) method receiving their blood samples at 8:00 a.m. after a night of staying hungry. It was found that no impact of training and gender on the irisin and insulin hormone levels had appeared jointly or separately (p>0,05) while they affected the leptin levels significantly (p<0.05). The leptin levels in females in both athletes and non-athletes were determined to be higher than males to significant extent and the leptin levels of both female and male athletes were significantly lower than non-athletes. As a result, it can be said that regular exercise and gender do not affect the levels of irisin and insulin hormones but they affect the leptin level significantly.