Stress biomarkers in rats submitted to swimming and treadmill running exercises

The objective of the present work was to compare stress biomarkers (serum ACTH and corticosterone hormones) during known intensity swimming and treadmill running exercises performed by rats. Adult Wistar rats (n=41) weighing 320-400 g at the beginning and 420-500 g at the end of the experiment, previously adapted to exercise and with Maximal Lactate Steady State (MLSS) already determined were used. The animals were divided into the following subgroups: (1) sacrificed shortly after session of 25 min of exercise (swimming or treadmill) at the MLSS intensity or (2) sacrificed after exhaustive exercise (swimming or treadmill) at intensity 25% higher than MLSS. For comparison, a control group C was sacrificed at rest. Two-way ANOVA was used to identify differences in the stress parameters (P<0.05). At both exercise intensities serum ACTH concentrations were significantly higher for the swimming group compared to running and control groups, while serum corticosterone concentrations in swimming and running groups were significantly higher than in the control group. The differences were more pronounced at the higher intensity (25% higher than MLSS). The swimming group showed higher concentrations for both hormones in relation to the running group. Only acute swimming exercise induced activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses expected to stress: elevations in the serum ACTH and corticosterone concentrations.