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Voluntary exercise during chronic renal failure in rats.
Gregory R Adams1, Chang-De Zhan, Fadia Haddad
1Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-4560, USA. GRAdams@uci.edu
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|April 6, 2005
Summary
Rats with early chronic renal failure (CRF) will voluntarily run, similar to healthy rats. This voluntary exercise may offer protective benefits for skeletal muscle and cardiovascular health in CRF.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Exercise Physiology
- Animal Models
Background:
- Chronic renal failure (CRF) significantly impairs quality of life and physical fitness.
- Previous studies on exercise and CRF used forced modalities, introducing confounding stress responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate voluntary wheel running behavior in rats with early-stage CRF.
- To assess physiological adaptations in skeletal muscle and cardiovascular systems in CRF rats undergoing voluntary exercise.
Main Methods:
- Rats underwent either sham surgery or 5/6 nephrectomy to induce CRF.
- Animals were divided into running and non-running groups.
- Physiological parameters were analyzed 30 days post-intervention.
Main Results:
- CRF rats exhibited voluntary running behavior comparable to sham-operated controls.
- Exercise did not normalize increased systolic blood pressure in CRF rats.
- Voluntary running prevented a CRF-induced decrease in hemoglobin concentration.
- CRF led to left ventricular hypertrophy, which was observed in both sham and CRF rats with running.
- CRF decreased citrate synthase activity in locomotor muscles, an effect blunted by voluntary running.
Conclusions:
- Rats with early CRF demonstrate a capacity for voluntary exercise.
- Voluntary running may exert palliative effects on skeletal muscle and cardiovascular changes associated with CRF.