AIM: The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)/Smad signaling pathway system plays a prominent role in the control of cell growth and extracellular matrix formation in the progression of liver fibrogenesis. Smad proteins can either positively or negatively regulate TGF-beta responses. In this study, the therapeutic effects of Chinese traditional compound decoction, ...

Ageing is associated with reduced transport and utilization of O(2), diminishing exercise tolerance. Reductions may occur in cardiac output (delivery), and skeletal muscle oxidative capacity (utilization). To determine the reversibility of the declines in the muscular determinants of these limitations, skeletal muscle morphological, angiogenic and biochemical responses to acute exercise ...

The clinical use of doxorubicin (DOX) is limited by a dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether voluntary exercise training would confer protection against DOX cardiotoxicity in the isolated perfused rat heart. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to standard holding cages or cages with running ...

The purpose of this study was to characterize the contractile properties of individual skinned muscle fibers from insulin-treated streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats after an endurance exercise training program. We hypothesized that single-fiber contractile function would decrease in the diabetic sedentary rats and that endurance exercise would preserve the function. In the ...

A conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm was used in the present study to investigate whether CTA produced by exercise could be attenuated by the 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist granisetron. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to one of four groups (Ns=6) and were exposed to salty (0.128 M sodium chloride) or ...

We evaluated the effect of physical training on the cardiovascular responses produced by angiotensin peptides at the rostroventrolateral medulla (RVLM) of non-anesthetized normotensive rats. The RVLM pressor effect induced by Ang II was significantly greater in trained rats, while, in contrast, the Ang-(1-7) pressor effect was significantly smaller in trained ...

INTRODUCTION: We have previously shown that exercise performed 20 h before a dive significantly reduces bubble formation in both rats and humans. Furthermore, exercise performed closer to the dive did not prevent bubble formation. HYPOTHESIS: The present study was designed to determine whether exercise 30 min prior to a dive ...

PURPOSE: Chronic renal failure (CRF) patients often experience a significant degradation in quality of life that is associated with decreased physical fitness. Previous animal studies have used forced running or swimming as modalities to investigate the interactions between exercise and CRF. These modalities generally include stress responses unrelated to the ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to investigate the structural, functional, and molecular features of the remodeling heart in prior swim-trained infarcted rats. BACKGROUND: Physical exercise training is a known protective factor against cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The structural and molecular aspects underlying this protection in the remodeling heart ...

BACKGROUND: We have recently demonstrated an increase in apoptosis in Han:SPRD rat kidneys with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Caspase-3 and caspase-7 are major mediators of apoptosis. There are two pathways of caspase-3 and caspase-7-mediated apoptosis: (1) the "extrinsic" pathway involving the death receptor Fas, Fas ligand (FasL), and caspase-8 ...

Two in vivo experiments were carried out in this study. In the first experiment five rats were given two subcutaneous injections of [(114m)In]InAs. Major sites of accumulation were spleen, liver and kidney. The intracellular distribution of indium was examined by differential centrifugation. The cytoplasmic fraction contained most of the indium ...

Physical exercise is known to enhance psychological well-being and coping capacity. Voluntary physical exercise in rats also robustly and rapidly up-regulates hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA levels, which are potentiated following a regimen of chronic antidepressant treatment. Increased BDNF levels are associated with enhanced activity of cyclic AMP response ...

Increased neuromuscular activity is known to provoke morphological and functional adaptations at the neuromuscular synapse. Most of these changes have been documented following endurance exercise training programmes. In this study, the effect of rat soleus muscle overload produced by tenotomy plus voluntary wheel-cage activity on neuromuscular transmission efficacy was investigated. ...

The inducible isoform of the 70 kDa HSP-family, HSP 72, has been shown to protect cells from protein-damaging stressors. In this experiment we wanted to investigate the effect of eccentric work, in the form of downhill running on a treadmill, on the induction of HSP 72. After familiarisation to the ...

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS-1) belongs to the large ADAM family of proteins. ADAMTS-1 contains a metalloproteinase domain, a disintegrin domain and three thrombospondin-like repeats but unlike ADAMs lacks a transmembrane domain. For the elucidation of the biological functions of ADAMTS-1, we raised new antibodies against ADAMTS-1. ...

Studies showed that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), enhanced anti-oxidative shifts in the blood plasma of rats subjected to exhaustive running exercise. A type of running training (continuous endurance and intermittent) before the exhaustive exercise was found to differentiate L-NAME-induced effects in rats.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of endurance exercise on the activity changes of selected lysosomal enzymes in particular types of rat muscle fibers, occurring by 0-4 days following the trial. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experiment was performed on 3 month old male Wistar rats with body mass 250 +/- 25 ...

Physical exercise influences the central dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic systems. A number of studies have examined brain noradrenaline (NA), serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) and dopamine (DA) with exercise. Although there are great discrepansies in experimental protocols, the results indicate that there is evidence in favour of changes in synthesis and ...

1. The hypothesis that ultrasonic stimulation upregulates uncoupling protein (UCP) 2 and UCP3 in gastrocnemius muscle by a different mechanism of exercise was investigated in Wister rats. 2. The ultrasnonic-stimulated group was given ultrasonic stimulation to the leg (1 MHz frequency, 1 W/cm2 intensity, 10 min continuously). 3. The exercise ...

The protective effects of exercise training on the diabetic-induced endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction were determined using intravital fluorescent microscopy. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups of control (Con), diabetes (DM), and diabetes with exercise--training (DM+Ex). Diabetes was induced by single intravenous injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 50 mg/kg BW). ...

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) have been used for early detection of factors that influence colorectal carcinogenesis in rats. It has been observed that exhaustive exercise increases free radical DNA oxidative damage and depresses immune function, events also related to the increased risk for cancer development. Fifteen days after a single ...

1. Effects of voluntary exercise on blood pressures, oxidative stress, urinary nitric oxide (NO) level and expression of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) mRNA were studied in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP/Izm). 2. SHRSP at the age of 6 weeks were divided into four groups: (i) the control group, sedentary group; ...

The purpose of this study was to determine if exercise could induce expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin 1 and 2, in association with angiogenesis; and if angiogenic changes correlated with reduced brain injury in stroke. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats (3 month old, n=44) were exercised ...

Enzymatic activity was analyzed in the soleus, gastrocnemius (red and white) and plantaris muscles of acutely exercised rats after long-term administration of Panax ginseng extract in order to evaluate the protective role of ginseng against skeletal muscle oxidation. Ginseng extract (3, 10, 100, or 500 mg/kg) was administered orally for ...

An inverse relationship between initial level of physical capacity and the magnitude of response to training is termed the principle of initial value. We tested the operation of this principle under experimental conditions of minimal genetic and environmental variation. Inbred rat strains previously identified as genetic models of low [Copenhagen ...

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is produced by endothelial cells and cardiac myocytes. ET-1 has potent positive inotropic and chronotropic effects in the heart and causes myocardial cell hypertrophy. We investigated the alteration of gene expression of ET-1 in the heart of rats during acute exercise and 24 hour postexercise periods. Sprague-Dawley rats ...

The aim of this work was to characterize the mucosal-to-serosal (apical to basolateral; AP-BL) and serosal-to-mucosal (basolateral to apical; BL-AP) transport of serotonin (5-HT) across rat jejunum, ileum, and colon, and to determine the influence of serotonin neuronal transporter inhibitors on this transport. The AP-BL apparent permeability (Papp) of 3H-5-HT ...

Exercise causes an integrated physiological response (e.g., an increase in cardiac output and a significant redistribution of tissue blood flow), which greatly increases blood flow in active muscles but decreases it in the splanchnic circulation. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide produced by vascular endothelial cells. We hypothesized that ...

Vascular reactivity can be modulated by local physical factors as well as pharmacologic manipulations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of chronic exercise (EX) with or without the ACEI captopril (CAP) on vascular reactivity. Sixty-four Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomized into 4 groups (n = 16): ...

Although angiogenetic therapy using recombinant growth factors holds much hope for the treatment of ischemic diseases, there are still unanswered questions including the method, doses or duration of therapeutic approach. We evaluated the angiogenetic effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on rat heart and gastrocnemius muscles when this was ...

The activity of the septo-hippocampal cholinergic pathway was investigated by measuring changes in the extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) levels in the hippocampus, by means of microdialysis, during the operant conditioned reflex and the repeated footshock stimulus. Microdialysis samplings were conducted in a Skinner box where lights were delivered as conditioned stimuli ...

Recently, physical exercise has been shown to significantly alter neurochemistry and neuronal function and to increase neurogenesis in discrete brain regions. Although we have documented that physical exercise leads to molecular changes in the posterior hypothalamic area (PHA), the impact on neuronal activity is unknown. The purpose of the present ...

This study evaluated the effects of supplementation of carnitine and antioxidants on lipids, carnitine concentrations, and exercise endurance time in both trained and untrained rats as compared to non-supplemented rats. Thirty-two male SD rats, age 7 wk were divided into four groups according to exercise training and modified AIN-76 diets: ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of a calibrated exercise on the progression of structural lesions in an experimental model of osteoarthritis (OA) in the rat, and to explore the effect of exercise on the level of chondrocyte caspase-dependent apoptosis and of Hsp70. METHODS: The OA model was induced by anterior ...

Exercise promotes multiple changes in hippocampal morphology and should, as a result, alter behavioral function. The present experiment investigated the effect of exercise on learning using contextual and auditory Pavlovian fear conditioning. Rats remained inactive or voluntarily exercised (VX) for 30 days, after which they received auditory-cued fear conditioning. Twenty-four ...

AIM: This study investigated the function of Kupffer cells, and particularly their role as immunocompetent cells that come into contact with gut-derived endotoxin, in the acute exercise of rats. METHODS: Female Fischer 344 rats were run on a treadmill at 21 m min(-1) for 60 min on a 15% grade. ...

Regular physical exercise has emerged, together with dietary restriction, as an effective intervention in delaying degenerative diseases and augmenting life span in rodents. The mechanisms involved remain largely unknown, although a beneficial influence on the age-related alteration of insulin sensitivity has been hypothesized. As muscle triglyceride (TG) accumulation is considered ...

AIM: The responsiveness of target cells to glucocorticoids is directly related to the number and the functional state of intracellular glucocorticoid receptors (GR), which mediated the role of glucocorticoids. Although the effects of acute training on GR have been well characterized, less is known about the effects of chronic training ...

Compounds incorporating a thiophene moiety, a pi excess five membered heterocycle, have attracted a great deal of research interest owing to the therapeutic utility of the template as useful drug molecular scaffolding. Recently we reported the anti-inflammatory activity profile exhibited by two thiophene analogs, AP84 and AP82 in acute and ...

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of moderate intensity chronic exercise on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) responses to endotoxin in female Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: Rats were divided into two groups, exercise (n=17) and sedentary (n=24). Exercise (Ex) rats completed 12 weeks of motorized treadmill running ...

Following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the brain undergoes a period of metabolic and neurochemical alterations that may compromise the reactivity of neuroplasticity-related molecular systems to physiological stimulation. In order to address the molecular mechanisms underlying plasticity following TBI and the effects of physical stimulation in the acute phase of TBI, ...

The effect of non-weight-bearing exercise on skeletal bone remains controversial. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the effects of water exercise training on femur density and serum alkaline phosphatase activity in ovariectomized and sham-operated (ovaries left intact) retired breeder rats. Exercised animals swam at progressively increasing duration ...

We analyzed modifications in transversal relaxation time (T2) and regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) in two areas of the limbic system, i.e., olfactory bulb (OB) and amygdala (AMY), in pre-puberty and post-puberty female rats. The aim of this work was to extend the knowledge about physiological modifications of these MRI ...

To investigate whether the type of physical activity, voluntary or forced, would promote different morphological changes in hippocampal formation we performed an immunocytochemical study using the parvalbumin (PV) distribution as a marker. Animals submitted to the voluntary exercise were placed in a voluntary wheel running and those submitted to the ...

PURPOSE: Gross anatomy is taught in medical school with textbooks, cadaver dissection, plastic models, and multimedia illustration, but all lack the reality of color and texture that is possible with fresh tissue dissection. The authors studied the use of fresh tissue dissection of the thorax and abdomen of the rat ...

BACKGROUND: We have previously reported that oral taurine administration reduced the frequency of painful muscle cramps in patients with liver cirrhosis, and that skeletal muscle taurine concentration was significantly decreased after exercise. The aim of this study was to examine taurine concentration in various tissues of a liver damaged with ...

The effects of strenuous exercise before and during pregnancy on the renal function and morphological alterations of the progeny were determined in a study on female Wistar rats. This research was done based on a previous study carried out in our laboratory, which showed morphological alterations in rats submitted to ...

A number of studies have shown that acute physical exercise is associated with the induction of apoptosis not only in skeletal muscle but also in many distant organs. One of the pathogenic agents responsible for exercise-induced damage in many tissues is the generation of oxygen free radicals. The aim of ...

The biosynthetically double-labeled lipopolysaccharide (LPS), containing (3)H-labeled on the fatty acyl-chains and (14)C-labeled on the glucosamine of Salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium, was isolated from bacteria grown in proteose peptone-beef extract (PPBE) medium in the presence of labeled precursors; 133 micro Ci/ml of [2-(3)H] acetate sodium salt and 0.167 micro Ci/ml ...

Cervical myelopathy is a common cause of neurological disability among the elderly; however, the exact mechanism for the insidious and progressive deterioration remains to be elucidated. To study the pathophysiology, we developed a simple experimental model reproducing the course. In rats, a thin sheet of expanding polymer was implanted microsurgically ...