Evaluation of the Effect of Aerobic Exercise and Curcumin Consumption on HPG Axis (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadotropic) in Alcohol Binge Drinking Rats

Alcohol consumption has many health side effects. It is well known male gender is a serious risk factor to be an alcohol consumption and finding a way to reduce these complications in the short term is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction effects of aerobic exercise and curcumin on LH, FSH, Ts and GnRH following alcohol-induced rats.

30 adult male Sprague Dawley rats with weighting 220-250 g and 8 weeks of age were obtained for this study, and randomly assigned into five groups (n=6) including: Dextrose-Saline control (Dext-Con), ethanol-control (Eth-Con), ethanol–curcumin (Eth-Cur), ethanol-swimming training (Eth-SWT) and ethanol–SWT+curcumin (Eth-SWT+Cur). The project duration consisted of 4 days of addiction, 6 days of quitting, 14 days of swimming training (60 min/day) and curcumin (50 mg/kg) interventions, and finally animal sacrificed. Blood sample was collected and LH, FSH, Ts, and GnRH level were measured by using ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) kit. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS version 21.

In the Eth-Con group, alcohol reduced the level of LH, FSH, Ts, and GnRH compared to other specially the Dext-Con group (p=0.001). In the Eth-SWT+Cur group, significantly increased of these hormones was observed (p=0.001). Exercise alone had no significantly effect on FSH and GnRH level.

Likely curcumin along exercise could improve HPG axis biomarker after a decline due to excessive alcohol consumption in rat. Lack of exercise effect alone can be due to Exercise-induced oxidative stress.