The purpose of this present study was to investigate the effect of maximal exercise and a long-term antioxidants supplementation on antioxidant enzyme(GPx and GR) activity of gastrocnemius muscle in rats. Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats(4 weeks o...
The purpose of this present study was to investigate the effect of maximal exercise and a long-term antioxidants supplementation on antioxidant enzyme(GPx and GR) activity of gastrocnemius muscle in rats. Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats(4 weeks old) were used as subjects. The subjects were divided into 4 groups such as, CON(n=6 in control group), NAE(n=6 in non antioxidants exercise group), AC(n=6 in antioxidants control group) or AE(n=6 in antioxidants exercise group). Non-antioxidants group(CON & NAE) fed general food(Samyang, Inc., Korea) for 16 weeks. Antioxidants group(AC & AE) fed the general food and the mixed antioxidants which were consist of vitamin E(200 lu/kg/day), vitamin C(50 mg/rat/day), vitamin B6(250 ug/kg/day), β carotene(300 mg/kg/day) and selenomethionine(0.1 mg/mg/day), The weight of each subject group was weighed 2-3 times per week. After the diet experiment for 16 weeks, exercise groups(NAE & AE) completed acute treadmill running(speed increased gradually to 25 m/min, 15% uphill grade, ∼50±10 min) until exhaustion. Immediately after exhaustive treadmill exercise, all the subjects were sacrificed for the isolation of gastrocnemius. Then, GPx(Glutathione Peroxidase) and GR(Glutathione Reductase) of the gastrocnemlus muscle were assayed. The protein concentration in the muscle and heart was determined by the Lowry method. After finishing the analysis of antioxidant activity, statistical analysis was carried out by two-way ANOVA and independant t-test. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: Maximal exercise increased the GPx and GR activity of gastrocnemius muscle, Further, a long-term antioxidants supplementation more significantly increased the GPx and GR activity of gastrocnemius muscle than those of non-antioxidants group. In conclusion, the present results clearly show that the exhaustive maximal exercise gave rise to increase oxidative stress which led to oxidative damage so that the antioxidant enzyme activity of gastrocnemius muscle were increased. Further, it has been found that the long-term antioxidants supplementation could decrease oxidative stress in the tissues so that the antioxidant enzyme activity of skeletal muscles was more increased.