title: Preventive aerobic training exerts a cardioprotective effect on rats treated with monocrotaline.
abstract: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic disease which causes overload to the right ventricle. The effect of preventive training on cardiac remodelling in this condition is still unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of preventive training on hypertrophy, heart function and gene expression of calcium transport proteins in rats with monocrotaline-induced PAH. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: S, sedentary control; T, trained control; SM, sedentary monocrotaline; and TM, trained monocrotaline. The preventive training protocol was performed on a treadmill for 13 weeks, five times/week. The first two weeks were adopted for adaptation to training with gradual increases in speed/time. The speed of the physical training from the third to tenth weeks was gradually increased from 0.9 to 1.1 km/h for 60 min. Next, monocrotaline was applied (60 mg/kg) to induce PAH and lactate threshold analysis performed to determine the training speeds. The training speed of the TM group in the following two weeks was 0.8 km/h for 60 min and the T = 0.9 km/h for 60 min; in the final two weeks, both groups trained at the same speed and duration 0.9 km/h, 60 min. Cardiac function was assessed through echocardiography, ventricular hypertrophy through histomorphometric analysis and gene expression through RT-qPCR. Right cardiac function assessed through the peak flow velocity was SM = 75.5 cm/s vs. TM = 92.0 cm/s (P = 0.001), and ventricular hypertrophy was SM = 106.4 μm² vs. TM = 77.7 μm² (P = 0.004). There was a decrease in the gene expression of ryanodine S = 1.12 au vs. SM = 0.60 au (P = 0.02) without alterations due to training. Thus, we conclude that prior physical training exerts a cardioprotective effect on the right ventricle in the monocrotaline rat model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Western São Paulo (UNOESTE), Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francis Lopes
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Pacagnelli
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Science, UNOESTE, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Karênina Dias
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: de Almeida Sabela
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Katashi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okoshi
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Science, UNOESTE, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thaoan Bruno
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Mariano
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dijon Henrique Salomé
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphology, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Robson Francisco
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antônio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Cicogna
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Department, UNESP, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Carlo Marques
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Vanderlei
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects*; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000517:prevention & control; D017380:Hypertrophy, Right Ventricular / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D016686:Monocrotaline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000379:methods; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D016686:Monocrotaline
keywords: exercise; monocrotaline; ventricular dysfunction