The effect of six weeks of voluntary wheel running exercise on hepatic superoxide dismutase levels and apoptosis-inducing factor after doxorubicin administration in aging model rats

In the last decade, cancer incidence increases progressively with age and older patients cannot participate in treatment programs due to the special physical condition and side effects of anti-tumor drugs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of six-week voluntary wheel running exercise on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced hepatotoxicity in aging model rats.
Thirty-two Wistar male rats were randomly assigned to exercise and control groups with 4 subgroups. All subjects received a daily injection of D-galactose for nine weeks (100 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally). The training protocol included six weeks of voluntary wheel running exercise. Doxorubicin was administrated intraperitoneally (1mg/kg/day) for 15 days. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) levels were measured after liver tissue homogenization by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
Administration of cumulative dose of DOX caused no significant decrease in SOD and AIF levels (P=0.797, and P=0.869, respectively). Six weeks of voluntary wheel running exercise led to insignificant decrease in SOD and insignificant increase in AIF in comparison to the control group (P=0.377, and P=0.948, respectively).
According to the results of the present study, the six-week voluntary wheel running exercise has no significant effect on DOX-induced hepatotoxicity in aging model rats.