Exercise training reduces sympathetic modulation on cardiovascular system and cardiac oxidative stress in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Background: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) show increased cardiac sympathetic activity, which could stimulate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cardiac damage, and apoptosis. Norepinephrine (NE)-induced cardiac oxidative stress seems to be involved in SHR cardiac hypertrophy development. Because exercise training (ET) decreases sympathetic activation and oxidative stress, it may alter cardiac hypertrophy in SHR. The aim of this study was to determine, in vivo, whether ET alters cardiac sympathetic modulation on cardiovascular system and whether a correlation exists between cardiac oxidative stress and hypertrophy. Methods: Male SHRs (15-weeks old) were divided into sedentary hypertensive (SHR, n = 7) and exercise-trained hypertensive rats (SHR-T, n = 7). Moderate ET was performed on a treadmill (5 days/week, 60 min, 10 weeks). After ET, cardiopulmonary reflex responses were assessed by bolus injections of 5-HT. Autoregressive spectral estimation was performed for systolic arterial pressure (SAP) with oscillatory components quantified as low (LF: 0.2-0.75 Hz) and high (HF: 0.75-4.0 Hz) frequency ranges. Cardiac NE concentration, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes activities, and total nitrates/nitrites were determined. Results: ET reduced mean arterial pressure, SAP variability (SAP var), LF of SAP, and cardiac hypertrophy and increased cardiopulmonary reflex responses. Cardiac lipid peroxidation was decreased in trained SHRs and positively correlated with NE concentrations (r = 0.89, P < 0.01) and heart weight/body weight ratio (r = 0.72, P < 0.01), and inversely correlated with total nitrates/nitrites (r = -0.79, P < 0.01). Moreover, in trained SHR, cardiac total nitrates/nitrites were inversely correlated with NE concentrations (r = -0.82, P < 0.01). Conclusions: ET attenuates cardiac sympathetic modulation and cardiac hypertrophy, which were associated with reduced oxidative stress and increased nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability.