Effect of exercise on blood pressure in rats with chronic NOS inhibition


Kuru O., Senturk U., Demir N., Yesilkaya A., Erguler G., Erkiclic M.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY, vol.87, no.2, pp.134-140, 2002 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 87 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2002
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s00421-002-0602-8
  • Journal Name: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.134-140
  • Keywords: exercise, blood pressure, hypertension, nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase, NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE, SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS, ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION, CHRONIC BLOCKADE, HYPERTROPHY, CONTRIBUTE, PREVENTION, ARTERY, FLOW
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Regular training lowers blood pressure in hypertensive humans and other animals. We investigated the response to 4 weeks of treadmill exercise training in hypertensive male Wistar rats receiving the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N-omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). The rats were on either a short- (4 weeks) or long-term (10 weeks) L-NAME treatment protocol and were subjected to running exercise that started concomitantly in the short-term group and in the 6th week in the long-term group. Four weeks of exercise training induced a fall in mean arterial pressure in both the short[mean (SEM) 137.6 (4.0) mmHg] and long-term hypertensive groups [161.4 (2.3) mmHg] compared to their sedentary hypertensive controls [160.4 (3.3) mmHg and 176.8 (8.9) mmHg, respectively]. Exercise also increased muscle nitric oxide synthase activity in both of the trained hypertensive groups. Muscle nitrite levels were higher in the exercising short-term hypertensive group compared to both the sedentary control and the sedentary hypertensive groups, and were not different between the sedentary and exercising long-term hypertensive groups. Increased wall thickness of the aortic and mesenteric vessels was observed in the hypertensive groups, but was prevented in the exercising long-term hypertensive group. In rat, exercise reduces the elevated blood pressure in L-NAME-induced hypertension via increasing nitric oxide synthase activity. Changes in vessel structure with exercise training may also be involved in the blood-pressure-lowering effects.