Moderate exercise training attenuates aging-induced cardiac inflammation, hypertrophy and fibrosis injuries of rat hearts

// Po-Hsiang Liao 1 , Dennis Jine-Yuan Hsieh 2 , Chia-Hua Kuo 3 , Cecilia-Hsuan Day 4 , Chia-Yao Shen 4 , Chao-Hung Lai 5 , Ray-Jade Chen 6 , V. Vijaya Padma 7 , Wei- Wen Kuo 8,* and Chih-Yang Huang 1,9,10,* 1 Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 2 School of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 3 Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry, Department of Sports Sciences, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan 4 Department of Nursing, Mei Ho University, Pingguang Road, Pingtung, Taiwan 5 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Armed Force Taichung General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan 6 Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 7 Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India 8 Department of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 9 Graduate Institute of Chinese Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 10 Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan * These authors have contributed equally to this paper Correspondence to: Chih-Yang Huang , email: // Keywords : aging, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, moderate exercise training, Gerotarget Received : August 07, 2015 Accepted : October 04, 2015 Published : October 19, 2015 Abstract Aging is the most important risk factor in cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading causes of death worldwide and the second major cause of death in Taiwan. The major factor in heart failure during aging is heart remodeling, including long-term stress-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Exercise is good for aging heart health, but the impact of exercise training on aging is not defined. This study used 3-, 12- and 18-month-old rats and randomly divided each age group into no exercise training control groups (C3, A12 and A18) and moderate gentle swimming exercise training groups (E3, AE12 and AE18). The protocol of exercise training was swimming five times weekly with gradual increases from the first week from 20 to 60 min for 12 weeks. Analyses of protein from rat heart tissues and sections revealed cardiac inflammation, hypertrophy and fibrosis pathway increases in aged rat groups (A12 and A18), which were improved in exercise training groups (AE12 and AE18). There were no heart injuries in young rat hearts in exercise group E3. These data suggest that moderate swimming exercise training attenuated aging-induced cardiac inflammation, hypertrophy and fibrosis injuries of rat hearts.