Curcumin attenuates oxidative stress induced during strenuous endurance training in kidney and lung tissues

Bckground and Aim: Strenuous endurance activities induce oxidative stress and influences important tissues such as kidney and lung. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of curcumin supplementation on glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the kidney and lung tissues during 8 weeks of strenuous endurance training in male wistar rats. Material and Method: In this experimental study, after one-week familiarization, 28 male Wistar rats (weight= 256.11±19.24 g, age= 8 weeks), were randomly divided into; Control (n=6), Curcumin (n=6), Endurance (n=8) and Endurance + curcumin (n=8) groups. Endurance training was carried out 5 sessions per week for 8 weeks by using an animal treadmill. The speed and duration of running increased to 35 m/min and 70 min in the last week. The animals received intraperitoneal injections of curcumin supplement 30 mg/kg, 3 times per week for 8 weeks. GPX activity and MDA levels were measured in the kidney and lung tissues by spectrophotometric method. Data were analyzed by one way ANOVA test. There were no significant differences in GPX enzyme activity in the kidney (p=0.077) and lung (p=0.114) tissues between the groups. However, MDA levels in the kidney (p=0.029) and lung (p=0.037) tissues in endurance training group were significantly higher than those in the endurance+curcumin group. It seems that strenuous endurance training in spite of inducing lipid peroxidation, can not disturb final line of antioxidant defense in the kidney and lung tissues. Also, strenuous endurance training induces oxidative stress in the kidney and lung tissues and curcumin supplementation can prevent oxidative stress