Effects of Different Exercise Modes on Arterial Stiffness and Nitric Oxide Synthesis

This study aimed to clarify the difference of different exercise effects on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) signaling pathway and arterial stiffness in rats and humans. Methods In the animal study, forty 10-wk-old male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: sedentary control (CON), AT (treadmill running, 60 min at 30 m·min−1, 5 d·wk−1 for 8 wk), RT (ladder climbing, 8–10 sets per day, 3 d·wk−1 for 8 wk), and HIIT (14 repeats of 20-s swimming session with 10-s pause between sessions, 4 d·wk−1 for 6 wk from 12-wk-old) groups (n = 10 in each group). In the human study, we confirmed the effects of 6-wk HIIT and 8-wk AT interventions on central arterial stiffness and plasma nitrite/nitrate level in untrained healthy young men in randomized controlled trial (HIIT, AT, and CON; n = 7 in each group). Results In the animal study, the effect on aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), as an index of central arterial stiffness, after HIIT was the same as the decrease in aortic PWV and increase in arterial eNOS/Akt phosphorylation after AT, which was not changed by RT. A negative correlation between aortic PWV and eNOS phosphorylation was observed (r = −0.38, P
Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Basic Sciences Source Type: research