The Effect of Strenuous Endurance Training on Heme Oxygenase-1 and TNF-α in Intestinal and Gastric Tissues in Male Wistar Rats

Intense sports activity, by creating oxidative stress, plays a role in causing some muscle damage and the spread of inflammation after the activity. On the other hand, it has been stated that oxidative stress tolerance can be done by stress proteins such as hemoxygenase. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine and investigate the effect of intense endurance training on hemoxygenase-1 and TNF-α enzyme levels in the stomach and intestinal tissues of male Wistar rats.

In the present experimental study conducted in 2017, 16 male Wistar rats aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into 2 groups (control and intense endurance training) after 10 familiarization sessions and weight lifting (mean and the standard deviation of the control group was 203.125 ± 8.18 and intense endurance training was 211.25 ± 7.9). The intense endurance training protocol included running on a treadmill for 8 weeks (5 sessions per week), water and standard food were freely provided to the samples. 48 hours after the last training session and 4-hour fasting, the mice were dissected and tissue samples were collected, and hemoxygenase-1 enzyme concentration and TNF-α level were measured using an ELISA kit. Collected data were analyzed using independent t-test.

The results indicated that intense endurance training had no significant effect on the level of hemoxygenase enzyme in the stomach tissue of rats (p=0.88). Moreover, the amount of hemoxygenase-1 enzyme in the intestinal tissue of mice did not change significantly (p=0.79). The amount of TNF-α in the stomach tissue of mice was not meaningfully different between the two groups (p=0.48). The amount of TNF-α in the intestinal tissue of the two groups was not significantly different (p=0.12).

Due to the non-change of TNF-α level, probably regular endurance sports training made the stomach and intestinal tissues safe from the destructive effects of intense endurance training by creating a beneficial adaptation in the antioxidant system. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the lack of significant changes in the inflammatory index in the present study could be related to the intensity of the exercise used. Correspondingly, if the intensity of sports activity is suitable for changes in inflammatory index levels, the lack of proper exercise by the samples of the present study was probably a factor in the absence of significant changes.