Exercise training reduces oxidative damage in skeletal muscle of septic rats

Introduction

Septic patients frequently develop critical illness myopathies (CIMs) that may represent a crucial factor for prolonged intensive care unit treatment and for ventilator weaning delay. Experimental findings have identified that oxidative stress plays a role in causing muscle depletion in chronic pathological states like sepsis. It is well documented that regular moderate physical exercise can decreased oxidative stress and enhance antioxidant functions.

Objective

To investigate whether exercise training reduces oxidative damage in septic rats induced by cecal ligation and perforation (CLP).

Methods

Wistar rats were randomly assigned to three groups: Sham (submitted to a fake surgery), CLP, and CLP that was previously trained (CLPT). The exercise training protocol consisted of 8 weeks of running on a treadmill, 5 days/week, for 60 minutes at 60% of the maximal running speed obtained on the graded treadmill test. Rats were subjected to CLP surgery; after 120 hours of surgical procedure they were killed by decapitation. Oxidative damage of lipids (thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS)) and proteins (carbonyl groups) were analyzed in Soleus (type I fiber) and plantaris (type II fiber) muscles.

Results

See Table 1

Table 1 Levels of TBARS and carbonyl of soleus and plantaris muscles

Conclusion

TBARS and carbonyl analysis for CLPT are lower than for CLP with statistical significance, except for carbonyl plantaris with P = 0.06 (Table 1 and Figure 1). Our data supported that exercise training before sepsis could decrease oxidative damage in both muscle fiber types.

Figure 1

Levels of TBARS of soleus (a) and plantaris (b); and levels of protein carbonyl of soleus (c) and plantaris (d). Values presented as mean ± SEM. *Significant difference in relation to Sham group (P < 0.05); ^#Significant difference in relation to CLP group (P < 0.05).