The Effect of Eight-Week Sprint Interval Training (SIT) on Oxidative/Antioxidant Status in Cardiac Tissue of Male Wistar Rats Under A High-Calorie High-Salt Diet

Consumption of high-calorie, high-salt diets is one of the main factors in production of free radicals and consequent oxidative stress in cardiac tissue. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of an eight-week sprint interval training (SIT) on oxidative/antioxidative status of cardiac tissue in male Wistar rats on a high-calorie, high-salt diet.

  It was an experimental study in which 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups: normal diet group (ND), normal diet and exercise (ND/SIT), high-calorie high salt diet group (HCL/HS), and high-calorie high salt diet + exercise group (HCL/HS + SIT). The sprint interval training was performed for eight weeks, three times per week, and 4-9 reps per session. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, rats were sacrificed and the cardiac tissue removed and used for superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, as well as total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels assessment.

Findings showed that eight weeks of SIT significantly increased the activity of SOD and GPX enzymes in the HCL/HS+SIT group. It also significantly reduced the MDA level in cardiac tissue of Wistar rats (P=0.001). But there was no significant change in TAC level after eight weeks of SIT training in the HCL/HS+SIT group (P=0.148).

Based on the findings of the present study, it seems that SIT training, despite its low volume, may help in preventing oxidative stress induced by a high-calorie, high-salt diet in the cardiac tissue of Wistar rats.