ABSTRACT
Purpose@#The effects of aerobic exercise training on soleus muscle morphology, mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling, and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in ovariectomized rat skeletal muscle were investigated. @*Methods@#Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control (CON), ovariectomy (OVX), and ovariectomy plus exercise (OVX+EX) groups. After ovarian excision, exercise training was performed using a rat treadmill at 20 m/min, 50 min/day, 5 days/week for 12 weeks. Protein levels of mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in the skeletal muscle (soleus) were examined through western immunoblot analysis. @*Results@#The number of myocytes and myocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) were increased and the extramyocyte space was decreased in the OVX group compared to those in the CON group. However, aerobic exercise training significantly increased myocyte CSA and decreased extramyocyte space in the OVX+EX group compared to those in the OVX group. The protein levels of proapoptotic signaling and muscle atrophy signaling were significantly increased, whereas the protein levels of muscle hypertrophy signaling were significantly decreased in the OVX group compared to that in the CON group. Aerobic exercise training significantly decreased the protein levels of proapoptotic signaling and increased the protein level of antiapoptotic protein in the OVX+EX group compared to that in the OVX group. Aerobic exercise training significantly increased the protein levels of hypertrophy signaling and decreased protein levels of atrophy signaling in the OVX+EX group compared to those in the OVX group. @*Conclusions@#Treadmill exercise improved estrogen deficiency-induced impairment in skeletal muscle remodeling, mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling, and atrophy/hypertrophy signaling in skeletal muscle.
ABSTRACT
Arterial stiffness in endurance athletes is low, whereas arterial stiffness in strength athletes is high. The adaptation of the arterial stiffness may be different depending on the training type. On the other hand, there are mixed-trained athletes that can’t be classified as endurance- or strength- trained athletes. The aim of this study was to investigate the arterial stiffness among mixed-trained athletes. The total of 51 young male athletes (15 long-distance runners, 10 handball players and 26 kendo players) and 16 young healthy sedentary individuals (control group) participated in this study. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), carotid-brachial PWV (cbPWV) and femoral-ankle PWV (faPWV), were measured as indices of central and peripheral (upper and lower limbs) arterial stiffness, respectively. cfPWV showed significantly lower in long-distance runners (high endurance capacity) and handball players (strength and high endurance capacities) compared with kendo players (strength and low endurance capacities) and control groups (P < 0.05 for both). cbPWV showed significantly lower in handball players and kendo players compared with the control group (P < 0.05 for both). There was no difference in faPWV among the groups. These data suggest that the competitive characteristics of athletes (i.e., endurance capacity or target muscle groups of sport) influence the adaptation of arterial stiffness. It can be speculated that endurance capacity in mixed-trained athletes can affect central arterial stiffness and similar to endurance trained athletes. In addition, the adaptation in upper limb arterial stiffness will be included in the training effects associated with the sports-specific target muscle groups, while lower limb arterial stiffness may not be unaffected by any type of exercise.