Effects of exercise and L-arginine intake on inflammation in aorta of high-fat diet induced obese rats.
OBJECTIVE
In the present study, we investigated the effect of exercise and arginine on the inflammatory makers and Cu-Mn superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression in the aortas of high-fat-induced obese rats.


METHODS
Fifty 6-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned as follows: HF-Con: high-fat diet, HF-Ex: high-fat diet and exercise, HF-Ex+A: high-fat diet and combined exercise and arginine, HF-A: high-fat diet and arginine. The high-fat diet was fed for 12 weeks following 1 week of environmental adaptation with mixed solid chow. The rats performed treadmill exercise 6 times per week for 12 weeks at20 m/min for 60 min. L-argininewas mixed with saline and orally administered at 150 mg/kg once a day. Expressions of inflammatory markers (including NF- κB, TNF-α, COX-2) and SOD were evaluated using western blotting.


RESULTS
NF-κB expression decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the HF-Ex group compared with HF-Con group, and we found additional effects(p<0.01) on NF-κB expression in HF-EX+A compared withHF-Ex. TNF-α expression decreased significantly (p<0.01) in HF-Ex, FH-Ex+A, and FH-A compared with HF-Con. In a similar trend with NF-κB expression, COX-2 expression decreased significantly in HF-Ex compared withHF-Con. In Cu-Mn SOD expression, there was no difference between HF and HF-Ex, but significant increases (p<0.01) inCu-Mn SOD werefound in HF-Ex+A and HF-A.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on our results, treatment that combines exercise and arginine might be effective for modulatingvascular inflammation and oxidative stress in obesity.
Physical Activity and Performance Institute (PAPI), Konkuk University, Seoul Republic of Korea.
Hee-Jae
HJ
Kim
Health and Exercise Science, Institute of Sport Science, Seoul National University, Seoul Republic of Korea.
Junseok
J
Son
Department of Sports Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon Republic of Korea.
Eunhee
E
Jin
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Han Yang University, Seoul Republic of Korea.
Jin
J
Lee
Department of Sports Leadership, Kwangwoon University, Seoul Republic of Korea.
Sok
S
Park
Exercise; aorta; arginine; inflammation