Influence of resistance training in left ventricle of ovariectomized elderly rats

ABSTRACT

Several cardiovascular changes evoked by aging affect negatively the quality of people’s lives, among them is the reduced functional capacity. Menopausal women, affected by the suspension of the ovarian hormones, suffer more intensely from metabolic and cardiovascular changes. It is known that physical training causesbiochemical, electrical, morphological, and mechanical adaptations in the cardiac muscle, which togetherprovide an improvement in the cardiac function. The goal of the present study was to evaluate theeffect of resistance training in the left ventricle of ovariectomized rats through stereological analysis. Westudied  15  Wistar female rats, 4 months- old, average weight 240 g. All animals were ovariectomized at9 months of age and then divided into 3 groups of five individuals as follows: Ovariectomized Sedentary Adult(13 months) (OSA), Ovariectomized Sedentary Elderly (17 months) (OSE), and Ovariectomized TrainedElderly (17 months) (OTE). The rats were monitored for 13 months and subsequently underwent resistancetraining for 12 weeks. The stereological analysis was performed using light microscopy techniques and dataobtained for each group were tabulated and statistically compared using ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests(p ≤ 0.05). It was verified that training decreased volume density of myocyte, interstitium and collagen fibersfollowed by increased volume density of capillaries, when compared with the ovariectomized sedentary elderly(OSE). Our data suggest that resistance training minimizes changes in the myocardium of elderly rats deprivedof ovarian hormones.