The effect of resistance training on plasma and cardiac muscle sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels of male Wistar rat

Background & The aim of present study was to examine the effect of resistance training on Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels of plasma and cardiac muscle in male Wistar rats. S1P is a bioactive platelet-derived sphingolipid that is involved in regulation of proliferation, differentiation, Hypertrophy and anti-apoptosis of cells and activation of satellite cells. Twenty four 8-week-old male Wistar rats were used in this study. The initial body weight of rats was 190–250 gr. All animals were maintained in pairs in an environmentally controlled room at 22°C, 12:12-h photoperiod cycle and allowed normal cage activity. The animals were fed standard rat chow and water ad libitum. After a week of acclimation to the animal facility, the rats were assigned randomly to a control (N=12) or training (N=12) group. Resistance training was done using a 1 meter height ladder with 2 cm grid with an 85 degree incline, and weights attached to rat's tails. The content of sphingosine-1- phosphate (S1P) present in the chloroform layer was determined by means of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Resistance exercise training increased the total content of S1P in cardiac muscle (P=0.08) in comparison to control group. This increase was not significant, but was close to significance. The level of this factor was significantly increased in plasma following resistance training. According to structural and functional roles of this sphingolipid and because of its increase after resistance training, and as it is the first study in this area, future studies with different resistance training programs or higher number of subjects may show the accurate roles of this factor in heart muscle adaptation to increased level of activity.