ABSTRACT
Exercise together with chronic ingestion of ethanol produces physiological and morphological alterations in skeletal muscle. The present study has been carried out to investigate the combined effect of exercise and ethanol ingestion on selected energy metabolic profiles of skeletal muscle fibres with reference to age induced changes. Wistar strain albino rats of two age groups (3 months & 18 months) were divided into four groups - Group I, sedentary control (SC); Group II, exercise (ExT) (30 min, speed of 23 m/min/day/5 days/week for a period of 8 weeks); Group III, ethanol treated (Et) (20% ethanol, 2 gm/kg body weight); Group IV, exercise trained + ethanol treated (ExT + Et) as mentioned in Groups II and III. The animals were sacrificed after 24 hours of the last treatment by cervical dislocation, and the skeletal muscle fibres of gastrocnemius (GN) and soleus (SOL) were isolated from the hind limbs, and selected energy metabolic profiles such as carbohydrates, glycogen, and free amino acids were estimated. The total carbohydrate content, glycogen and FAA are significantly elevated with ExT and also with combination treatment. However, the same parameters were decreased with ethanol intoxication in both skeletal muscle fibres when compared with sedentary control rats. The results suggest a beneficial role of exercise in preventing ethanol-induced toxicity.